the Rock on the Seas
by Haru Hanabishi
Summary: You know when your wishes come true and you thought everything was great? Well, that happened to me. Just in a different way. The people upstairs can be quite creative in their wish granting. Oh well, at least I can literally fight for my survival this time around. - Reincarnated OC. rated T for language.
1. Prologue: the End and the Beginning

**Hello all you beloved readers. Thank you for reading this little fic that managed to summon up the courage to actually write and upload. This is my first work on the road to becoming a good fic writer. Any review is appreciated, welcomed, and loved. Oh, and I'm not the owner of One Piece. That person would be Lord Oda. Now on to the actual story.**

 **-/\\-/\\-**

There was a time where I was a boring twenty years old college student. I was a short girl, five feet zero, with boring brown hair and eyes with no clear goal for the future. Because my major was undecided, I took which ever class that caught my attention. The biggest accomplishment I ever got was the bronze trophy in Tae Kwon Do that I got when I was ten. Soon I became known as the "jack of all trade" within my group. They also call me the "master of none". Funny fellas they were. Anyway, I live in a rented one room apartment with the bare minimum of furniture. My most prized possession was my beloved laptop and the five years old car that I drove everywhere. All in all, my life was boing. Until my sister's graduation day, that was when everything changed.

My sister's graduation was in New York, I lived in Oregon. Given the distant between us, I was very unwilling to go. However, since we've always been there for each other, I decided to go. Honestly, that was a stupid mistake. The drive was long and tiring. And me being me, I got careless. That was another stupid mistake. I got to New York, got off the freeway, and was about to take a right turn when a truck slammed into my car.

My first thought of the situation was "of freaking course this happen on the one day I travel interstate".

Then the pain hit and all I could think was: "Shit, looks like I'm gonna be really late for the ceremony".

 **-/\\-/\\-**

I woke up with a pounding headache and a dull pain all over my left side. Everything feels disconnected, like when you have sleep paralysis. A nurse came to me:

"You're awake. How do you feel?"

"I have a headache. Other than that, I can't feel anything."

"I see. It's currently two in the morning right now. You should go back to sleep. I'll increase your pain medication."

Five minutes later, I fell back into the darkness.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

The next time I woke up, I tried to find my bearings and figure out where I was. I was in a white room, presumably a hospital room since there's an ECG machine connected to me. After a bit of pure willpower and fiddling, I managed to move my right hand just enough to press the call button.

After a while, a nurse came in, she immediately call the doctor and check my vitals.

"How are you feeling?" she asked me.

"Tired"

She jotted that down and asked again "Do you remember anything?"

"Well, I remember driving to New York and got hit after I got off the freeway" I told of what I can recall"

We continue the Q&A for about fifteen minutes until I got curious and asked her "So… where am I? I know I'm in a hospital somewhere in New York, but where is this place?"

The nurse was about to answer me when the door was thrown open and my sister ran in. She hugged me, told me how worried she was and then we proceed to have another session of Q&A. The doctor came in while my sister was questioning me.

He asked me a few questions then whisper to me sister. He nodded and turned to me:

"Miss, I've talked to your family and we've decided to inform you of your situation as soon as possible. This is so that we can be right here when you find out about it". He told with the best poker face I've ever seen.

The way he carefully phrased things kind off scares me though. "What situation?" I asked him warily.

"For you to survive the, uh, incident was a miracle. You were in a coma for a whole month now. Your heart felled four times, but we managed to resuscitate you."

I survived four times? Hot dam.

"However", he continues "we could not save all of you".

"What do you mean?" I asked, bewildered.

He answered solemnly "Due to the accident, almost all of your left side was completely crushed. Your eye and arm are beyond repair. You have severe head trauma and I'm afraid you won't be able to walk ever again."

I was left speechless. My world just came crumbling down on me. I only have an eye and an arm left? What am I supposed to do? I won't be able to go to college or work or basically everything else. To this day, I am still not ashamed to say that I had a mental breakdown right then and there. I'm pretty sure I passed out after a while. Or it could have been that needle the doctor had in his hand that I spotted just before I blacked out.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

I spend the next years in the same bed in New York. I could sit up on my own so that was a plus. My insurances came through for me and took care of almost everything. I had my family sell everything, except my laptop, to cover for my fees. My car was taken apart, most were sold as junk metal. It still amazed me that I survived in that car. It looked like a paper car that went through a blender.

My parents and sister visit once in awhile, but they're all very busy. Without anything to do, it was really boring. Fortunately for me, my sister brought the laptop to me.

Since I could not do much, I ended up reading a lot. I was obsessed with manga and anime. I read and watched anything. I was obsessed with Naruto, Fairy Tail, One Piece, and many other adventure ones. During the wait time, I read fan fictions. My absolute favorites were the self-insert stories. I mean, can you imagine being able to become a shadow or have a talking animal as companion? Can you imagine fighting bad guys alongside friends that would look after you no matter what? Oh, what I would give to live like that.

After three years of being confined to a bed and living my life peacefully, if a bit boringly. I had my first brain seizure. I was watching One Piece when I had this weird feeling. When I came to, the show was already half way done. I talked to the doctor and did a lot of test.

After that, my body started to shut down. My right arm started to feel weak, and stopped responding. Even breathing started to become a burden and everything hurt. Every time I got off a seizure, I lost the memory of the past minutes and my full body pain intensified. The next days after were pure hell as the seizure interval increase.

After fighting to survive for two weeks, I couldn't take it anymore.

So I gave up.

The last seizure was weird. I mean, I know that you can hallucinate while seizing but, come on, a cloaked dude with red glowing eyes? What the hell? He (she?) even talked to me.

"Do you want to survive?" the figure asked.

Seriously? Now? When I just gave up trying to? Really? Survive and have another seizure? Hell no, you dipshit.

Too tired to even curse, I answered him: "No. I want to live".

The figure paused for a moment. Then it's too wide grin was the last thing I saw before the darkness claimed me.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

 **?: Oi, how come you never told them my name?**

 **Me: Oh, that's because it's for later.**

 **?: Later? When is later.**

 **Me: ...**

 **?: ...**

 **Me: You'll find that out.**


	2. Chapter 1: the Light after the Dark

_These are thoughts_

"These are conversations"

And these are story teller

 **Hello beloved readers. Here is the first chapter of this series. Enjoy. PS: I don't own One Piece. Lord Oda does.**

 **-/\\-/\\-**

The first thing I noticed after regaining consciousness, which freaked me out a bit, was the darkness. I can't see or hear anything. The second thing I noticed was I can't feel anything. It was like I didn't have any limbs at all. I came to the conclusion that none of my senses were working.

 _What the hell? Did I die? Wait, where am I? Is this limbo? Where is the light at the end of the tunnel?_

After freaking out for a bit, I calmed down. I tried to find my bearings but considering I can't feel anything? That was pointless.

I tried to look at the better side of my situation. Honestly, it's not that bad. Sure, I feel like I'm floating in space, but it beats getting brain seizures. Sure I can't sense anything; it's still the most peaceful I've ever felt in years.

My mind made up, I settle down and just lay back and relax.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

I don't know how long I was in that darkness. After all, you tend to lose track of time when all you can do is sleep, wake up, and try to entertain yourself. Rinse and repeat. Well anyway, after a long time of peace, I was startle awake for the first time. For the first time in forever, I can hear something. It was this strange steady beat. It was a very familiar sound. I swear I know it from somewhere. I know I've heard it many times before.

I wracked my, nonexistent, brain open but I got nothing. So, I decided to just _Fuck it_ and relax. I'm dead. It's not like a little beat can harm me.

That beat was the first sign that something was wrong. If only I could remember what kind of beat it was.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

The next change in my current situation was a voice. It was a soft, gentle murmur that I can barely hear. Normally, that would have been really creepy. However, considering I haven't heard anyone for so long, I was too ecstatic to care about the details

I tried to call out to whoever it was. Nothing came out of my throat. I couldn't move my mouth. Once again, I was reminded that none of my senses, except hearing, is working.

My ecstatic state crumbled. I was so depressed. I wanted to cry out to the person, to talk to them. But I physically couldn't.

For the first time since I died, I felt alone.

So I settle for the next best thing. I latched onto the voice. I mentally hung onto those whispers like everything depends on it.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

After some more time, I became extremely well acquainted with the beat and the voice. While the voice come and went, the beat was always there to comfort me. I often caught myself just waiting and hoping the voice to come back.

To my utter joy, there was another voice that I can hear. The second voice was rarely there. It was stronger than the first voice, but still very gentle and filled of … love? What the, are they lovers? Nice.

 _Well that was strange. Did I unconsciously haunt someone, or worse, a couple? Did I really regret my FA life that much? I seriously hope not._

Despite my inner turmoil, I latched onto the second voice too.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

As time passes by, I started to regain the feelings in my limbs. I could move my arms and legs again. Not wasting much time, I proceed to explore the darkness. I immediately find out that I can't move much. Everything felt awkward, like they're not mine. I did, however, figure out that the place was freaking small.

With much prodding and moving (try to), I came up with nothing. Frustrated, I start to focus any try to move my limb with sheer willpower. Hey I survive with willpower before, this should be nothing.

I managed to jerk my leg. That's it.

…

…

Practice makes perfect.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

After time passed by without me noticing, I start to feel the place getting crammed. It felt like a sack that was tailored just for me. It was still comfortable even when I can feel the sac all over me. Life was great.

That is until everything tries to crush me.

Turns out there are walls outside the sack. And they're crushing me. It feels really uncomfortable. Not painful though so that's good. But goddammit stop crushing me. What the hell is going on?

The wall starts to push me up after some more crushing. Seriously, it was annoying. Well, the pushing and crushing stops and replacing it are the searing sensation of cold.

 _HOLY SHIT, IT COLD! WHAT THE FUCK?! SHIT, I NEED A BLANKET._

Instinctively, I flail around and start wailing for some reason. I think I woke up a baby. Oops. Then a though enter my mine.

 _Wait a second, I can feel cold? Wait, how in the seven layers of hell I'm I feeling cold? HOLY SHIT, GIANTS._

I'm not kidding, there were giant silhouette towering over me. I can't really describe them though. I think after staying in that sack for so long killed my eyesight. Everything was black and white and blurry.

I felt liquid running on my skin. Then something soft were brushes against my body. All of my body. Even there. The humiliation burned me. I started to flailed again. A voice in the back of my head told me to wail. So I did.

The giant that was over me picked me up, walked around a bit, and hand me to another giant. This giant was very gentle in holding me. Its touch calmed me down like anesthetic. Then it spoke to me. It was the voice, the whispers that I've clung onto for the longest time. It spoke in a strange language, but I could understand it perfectly. It couldn't focus on the fact that magically learned another language due to the giant's first coherent whisper to me:

"Welcome to our world, my darling little baby."

 **-/\\-/\\-**

 **I got my first review! And 2 favorites! Within 2 days! YAY. Thank you guys so much. I hope you enjoyed the firstchapter.**

 **?: Still no name.**

 **Me: Oh stop whining.**

 **?: I'm not whining.**

 **Me: Considering you're a baby? Yeah, you're whining.**

 **?: ...**

 **Me: ... I'm gonna run now.**

 **?: You should.**

 **Me: Bye guys. *run like an Olympic sprinter***


	3. Chapter 2: the Denial and Acceptance

_These are thoughts_

"These are conversations"

And these are story teller

 **Hello beloved readers. I know the current update rate is pretty fast, but I'm in the flow right now. So here's another chapter. I'll probably slow down around chapter 8 or 9 or later than that. For now, just enjoy. PS: Lord Oda own One Piece, not me.**

 **-/\\-/\\-**

 **Baby**. The word rang out in my head like a gong. And naturally, I freaked out.

 _What the fuck do you mean baby? I'm not a baby. I'm a full-grown woman. There have to be a mistake. That's right; there was a baby that was crying earlier. The giant must be talking about that baby. I'm not a baby. I'm definitely not a …_

My denials were cut off by the giant leaning down toward me. It kissed my forehead.

"You are so beautiful! My precious little girl"!

 _Huh. Its voice is really soft and high. Is it a female? Wait, no, this is not the time for that! Fuck! How in the seven layers of hell am I a baby? I died dammit! Reincarnation? This is not some kind fanfi…_

––––––––––––––––––––––––––

 **Do you want to survive?**

 **No. I want to live.**

––––––––––––––––––––––––––

 _You have got to be kidding me!_ I mentally groaned. _Of all the wishes I ever made, that's the one that got granted? Through reincarnation? Seriously? Couldn't you just magically heal me or something? Ugh._

Coming off of my freak out session, I immediately feel the exhaustion of being born settle in.

 _Ugh. I'm so sleepy. Being a baby sucks._

I fell asleep.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

When I woke up the next time, I was a lot calmer than I have been. Since I wasn't busy freaking out anymore, my thoughts were a lot clearer.

Now that I could think, I finally notice things that I didn't before. Like that hallucination I had before my, um, death. That sounds really weird. Anyway, that figure must be the death god or something, what with cloak and the creepy glowing eyes and all. Well, since he (or she) is a death god, I healing really was not an option after all.

Alright, let's stop looking the gift horse in its mouth. I died. But I got a second chance of life. I'd better make the most out of it then. First thing first though. Let's play the who's who game.

Exiting my internal though, I notice that the female giant, presumably my new mother, is holding and humming to me. Since I was inside of her, that beat I keep hearing all the time must be her heartbeat. _No wonder it sounded familiar_. The second voice, which was stronger than hers, might have been my father then. I wish I have more information than just their voices and noises though. Man, newborn eyesight sucks.

"She's such a quiet baby." My mother suddenly said, startling me. "Tatsuke, do you think she's OK? I though newborn cry if they're not eating or sleeping."

"Don't worry, dear. She's fine. I'm sure she is." My father answered her gently.

I didn't know he was anywhere near at all. Pretty stealthy guys huh? Maybe I can have him teach me.

Wait a second. Stealth? Like ninjas? No no no no no. Calm down me, there's no way such thing can happen. I'm just overreacting. There's no way I would get reincarnated into an anime, much less Naruto's world. Ha ha ha, I'm just being paranoid. After all, this is not a fanfi…

"Maki? Do you think she'll grow up to be a marine like me?" my father suddenly asked.

Heh. I think someone doesn't want me to say fan…

"Isn't it a bit early to ask that question, honey?" my mom answered with mirth in her voice, "Although, I think she would prefer to be a pirate like her uncle."

Yup, the f-word is not allowed.

"Oh now, Maki, don't say that. There's no way she would favor her uncle more than her own father." he whined. "She'll definitely become a marine."

"Fu fu fu. Honey, what if she inherits my taste for adventure? Wouldn't she think that travelling the Blues is more interesting than walking the same path every day?" she teased him. Then turn to me, "Wouldn't you? Ryuki darling?" and kissed my forehead again.

I tuned out of the conversation after a while to organize the tidbits of information that I just got. There are three main things that I learned today:

1) My name is Ryuki. My mother and father are Maki and Tatsuke, respectively.

2) My father is a marine, while my uncle is a pirate.

3) Something really weird is going on.

I mean, come on, those are Japanese names. And they were talking about pirates and marine like they're everyday occurrences. What the hell?

Ugh, stomach hungry. Feeding time I guess. I'll figure the other stuffs out later. Now, time to cry my throat out.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

 **Ryuki: Finally.**

 **Me: You're overreacting**

 **Ryuki: Shut up. I can't help it. I was ? for two chapters.**

 **Me: Yeah yeah. I did told you that you'll have your name later though.**

 **Ryuki: Keh. Anyway, that was pretty short.**

 **Me: The next part doesn't fit this chapter.**

 **Ryuki: Whatever you say, potato.**

 **Me: HEY**.


	4. Chapter 3: to Learn to Love again

_These are thoughts_

"These are conversations"

And these are story teller

 **Hello my beloved readers. I'm back with a new chapter. Hope ya'll didn't wait for too long. And I don't own One Piece.**

 **-/\\-/\\-**

The first year of my life was, frankly, boring. There was not much I could do. There wasn't much that happened either. There were a few interesting and/or disturbing incidences and revelations though.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

I found out that father was a very tall and muscular man. His hair brushes the door frame when he takes me out to sunbathe. He had jet black spiky hair and stormy grey eyes. Mother, on the other hand, was a petite woman. She's like two heads shorter than father. She also had scarlet silky hair and green emerald eyes that reminded me of Kushina from Naruto. I wonder what I look like.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

At around three months old, I managed to flip myself over. I can observe whenever I want now. Yay.

The first thing I saw when I prop myself up was mother and father in a heated make out session on the other side of the room.

I drop myself down and flip over on my back. _I did not need to see that. At all._

 **-/\\-/\\-**

It turned out that my father have been taking a break from his duty to take care of me and my mother. That was why he always seems to be around.

You want to know how baby me figure that out? Well, his squat mates decided to pay us a visit.

There were two of them, a blond man with blue eyes and a brunette woman with purple eyes, or well, eye. She only had her left eye and a jagged scar horizontally over her right. They were both wearing sailor uniform.

"Hey guys, how are you doing?" the woman asked.

"We're good. Thank you for stopping by." father answered.

"We came to check up on you two." The woman pouted after giving my mother a hug. "The whole division is worried about you, especially when your hubby literally ran out of the base. Then disappear for half a year."

"Reina's right. You're lucky the lieutenant had a baby last year, otherwise that's half a year worth of toilet duty." the man smirk.

"Oh please, I'm his favorite. There's no way he'd do that." father joked, "you on the other hand Satoshi. How many yard duty shifts did you get when I was not there to rein you in?"

"Less than you'll ever get. Moron." Satoshi quip back.

"Oh really? Mr. Yard cleaner?" father growled back.

Their pleasant conversation suddenly turned into a full out battle. At least until mother stepped in.

"All right you two. That's enough." she exclaimed while pulling in their ears.

Judging by their yelps, I imagine that was very painful. I was too busy watching the three that I completely missed Reina standing next to my crib. So naturally, I was extremely startled when she picked me up.

"So, what's the little princess's name?" she interrupted the others.

"It's Ryuki. Hanabishi Ryuki." mother answered, letting go of the ears.

"Ow ow ow. I though you guys were gonna go with Tatsumaki. What's with the name combination you were so adamant about." Satoshi said through his pain.

"Hell no. Tatsumaki is too common for my little treasure." father exclaimed, buffing up his chest.

"So you decide not to combine your names? Dang, I lost that bet." Satoshi said.

"Actually, you didn't. Ryuki is a combination of our name. It's just a word play." Mother said, "The "Ryu" in her name is a different word for "Tatsu". And the "ki" is from Ma"ki". Add those up and we got "Ryuki".

"Really? YES. HAHAH! THOSE TWENTY HUNDRED BERRIES ARE MINE!" Satoshi jumped in joy.

 _They bet on my name? I want 10% of that. And Berry? Which anime is that from? It sounds familiar._

Anyway, I cringed. That dude is really loud. Thankfully, Reina came to my rescue.

"Hey. Stop screaming. You're going to make the little princess cry!" then she coo at me, "You're such a cute baby, aren't you. Yes, yes you are."

Then she processed to put me on the table and tickle me. _Fuck! Stop that!_ I can vaguely hear someone going "No fair. I want to play with her too." I got tickled for the rest of the day.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

One thing I found out very quickly due to how close I usually am with my mother is that I am indeed in an anime. I might not be able to see too far, but she definitely looks like someone from an anime. I just hope this is somewhere relatively peaceful.

Since I was still a baby with shitty vision, I was confined to my crib most of the time. I sincerely hope my vision gets better soon or this boredom is going to kill me. For now though, I just settled with thinking about my situation and future options.

Since I am a baby with an adult mind, there's no way I can be like a normal baby. Should I try to be as normal as possible? Or may be come out as a genius? Decisions decisions.

On one hand, geniuses are awesome. I had always been average in my last life, so to be view as someone important might be nice. And it should keep me from being bored and force to act like a brat. Although geniuses have to face so many pressures it's not even funny. Not to mention the probability of being bully for it. I seriously don't want to be picked on by little kids, the humiliation will make me do something drastic and that's not good. On the other hand, being a normal kid means no pressure, there's a whole variety of things I can chose to do or not without everyone judging. However, that means I have to wrack my brain to remember the development timeline of a baby.

 _Genius or normal. Or, I can go somewhere in between. Third road FTW. Now, how does that timeline goes again? I'm pretty sure I learned about it in Biology, or was it Psychology. Huh. That's strange. I can't seem to remember which class I took._

I try to remember which class I took but couldn't remember. So I try to broad out and then focus in later. But I couldn't remember which college I went to. Feeling wary, I search though my memory, trying to recount what I did in my last life. My blood ran cold.

I couldn't remember anything.

I couldn't remember if I had a sister or a brother, if I even have a sibling at all. Who were my parents? How are they? Hell I cannot recount where I was or why I died.

Even worse, I don't have any clue how old I was.

 _No way. This is impossible. I know I was reincarnated. I can remember things in my past life. Things like planes, guns, motorcycles, anime and manga, and everything else. So why? Why can't I remember anything about me? Fuck. Fuck. FUCK. GOD FUCKING DAMMIT ALL. WHY?_ _Why? Why are you doing this to me? Why?_

I'm pretty sure I managed to freak out my parents with the screaming and crying I did. I was immediately scooped up into someone's arms. It was my father.

"Shhhh. Shhhh. It's OK, it's OK, Ryuki. Papa's here. Do you need a diaper change? No. it still good. Are you hungry then?" he fussed over me.

I cried myself to sleep that day. Although, father's fusing was quite calming.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

After brooding for some time (weeks), I decided to stop. I might not have my old memories anymore, but I can always make new ones. There's no way I can return to the life I used to have no matter how much brood. I have a new life now. I was reincarnated. And I have a family. This time, I'm going to make sure I won't die as easily. I'm going to make sure I won't leave my family behind again. This time, I'm going to make sure I live life to the fullest.

First step: Let's start by bonding with the two people who have been giving me unconditional love since I was born. I need to learn to love my mother and father, no, mom and dad, again.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

 **This chapter took me awhile. It's a little longer than my average for the chapters since the previous was shorter. I hope you all enjoyed it though.**

 **Ryuki: so what was my name?**

 **Me: You don't know.**

 **Ryuki: I know I don't know. Now answer my question.**

 **Me: That's a secret that'll you'll never find out.**

 **Ryuki: You never thought of one, did you?**

 **ME: … I plead the Fifth?**


	5. Chapter 4: this World of Mine

_These are thoughts_

"These are conversations"

And these are story teller

 **Hello my beloved readers, here's a new chapter of Ryuki's new life. I apologize for confusing some of you but her name does not mean "tornado". "Ryu" = "Dragon" and "Ki" = "Forest" = "Ryuki" = "Dragon Forest". It's a word play in Japanese. PS: I don't own One Piece. PPS: Should I post this claim on the summary instead?**

 **-/\\-/\\-**

After the whole memory and identity crisis fiasco, I was determined to be something in my new life. Since I am now a part of an anime, which means I need to be at least a side character, or better yet, a main one. In order to do that, I need to know my options. So, first step: figuring out which world I'm in.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

First plan: Observation

Using my newly acquired motor skill and almost cleared vision, I crawled around the house in search of clues. No result. The whole house was perfectly baby proof. There was nothing, except my toys, that I can reach. Everything was either locked or blocked.

 _OK. I need a different way. Oh! That's it! The window! If I can get to it, maybe I can see a clue of where I am._

Within our tiny house, there's a big but low window to let natural lights in. The ledge of the window is a little higher than my reach, if only I have something to step on.

I stacked my blocks right under the window. Of course, I have to pretend that I'm simply playing with my blocks, not attempting to climb onto a ledge three feet off the ground at the age of ten month. I was almost done with the stacking when …

"Hello! Little princess!" Reina appeared behind me.

 _Oh fuck. Not you._

My plan was completely forgotten as I struggled to not die of laughter. I swear that crazy lady is too obsessed with tickling me for both of our health.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

Second plan: Wire-tapping the original way

Today is one of those rare days that my parents hung out with their friends. Mom's on a shopping trip with Reina. Dad's at the table talking to his friends. There were Satoshi, Mr. Renji from down the street and Mr. Kotaru next door.

Acting the little I'm supposed to be, I dragged along my dragon plushy (Hah hah, very funny mom) and tuck on dad's pants. When he looked at me, I opened my reach out my tiny arms toward him. He picked me up and me on his lap.

It was the perfect position for eavesdropping.

"Aww the little hatchling wants to be with daddy." Satoshi cooed at me.

"Awwwww" the other guys chorused.

 _What is it with every one and the dragon reference? It's my name, I get that. But dammit all I'm not a dragon!_

"I know right? My little dragon is the cutest!" dad boasted.

"Man, I want a little girl too." Mr. Renji moaned, "My boy keep trying to break anything he sees. I wished he'd stop doing that."

"That sounds rough." Satoshi winced. "Have you tried getting your wife on his case?"

"I have, but she said he's just a kid and leave him alone!" Mr. Renji exclaimed in despair.

"Ugh. You guys are making me question whether I want a kid or not." Mr. Kotaro complained.

They all laugh and gave him all these weird tips and advices. Their following conversation was all gossips. I was not expecting to know what happen with Mrs. Lona and her fiancé, or how dad ran away from his ex-girlfriend, although that would great blackmail materials.

It was so boring that I fell asleep not long after.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

There were so many plans that I came up with. However, they all failed spectacularly one way or another. And with that, I welcomed my first birthday.

"Let's invite the whole village to her party!" mom decided.

And that's how we ended up with everyone at our house. Most of the adults were outside drinking, some of them come inside to check on the children and me from time to time. There were seven children in total, including me, four girls and three boys. I am younger than all of them seeing how they're around five to ten years old.

I was a bit worried at first, after all kids can be very rough. Thankfully, that was just me being paranoid. The kids were surprisingly gentle when playing with baby me. Except for that one brat, who I'm going to assume is Mr. Renji's son, he keeps knocking my stacks of blocks.

The highlight of the party was the mountain of present right outside the door and the old man in white gi. He looked to be in his eighties, but his actions and body language says he can break the most macho of macho like a twig. He just screams power, and he was simply terrifying and awe-inspiring at the same time. The bowing that everyone is giving him did not help at all. I'm pretty sure I was gaping at him like a fish.

The old man walked up to me. He looked at me in the eyes. His stares were really starting to make me feel uncomfortable. Then he smiled and said

"She's a lot like you Tatsuke. You're both the only children who dared to look me in the eyes."

"Please don't make the children cry on their birthdays, Kenichi-sensei." Dad told him respectfully.

"Shua hah hah hah. She has the potential to be a martial artist, even more than you, boy. Shua hah hah hah hah." He laughed and patted dad on the back.

Everyone seemed to breathe out a sign of relief and went back to partying. His words were stuck in my mind.

 _A martial artist? That sounds promising. Maybe it would be the edge I need for my goal._

Around midday, dad's whole division joined the party. There were so many people. Satoshi had to stay behind as a punishment though. I wished Reina was the one who had to stay. Her present to me came in the form of a tickle session.

Everything was fun and great until sunset. I can see Satoshi running down the road toward us. He looked panicked. Before he even reached us, he belted out:

"Urgent orders from the higher ups! All able fleets have to move out to Loguetown!" He stopped in front of us, panted and caught his breath. Then he shouted out "They caught him! THEY CAUGHT GOL D ROGER!"

I took me a full minute to process what he just said.

 _Loguetown. Gol D Roger. Caught. That means execution! Pirate's age! ONE PIECE._

 _HOLY SHIT, I'M IN ONE PIECE!._

 **-/\\-/\\-**

 **Ryuki: I'm gonna be older than Luffy?**

 **Me: Yup!**

 **Ryuki: But I thought you said you wanted me to be 19?**

 **Me: Not anymore.**

 **Ryuki: You're confusing.**

 **Me: I am.**

 **Ryuki: Bipolar.**

 **Me: Yup. Wait. Heyyyy.**


	6. Chapter 5: the First of the Changes

_These are thoughts_

"These are conversations"

And these are story teller

 **Hello my beloved readers, this story have reached 10 favorites and 21 follows! It's awesome! So, here's a new chapter for you all. Enjoy. PS: I still don't own One Piece.**

 **-/\\-/\\-**

After every marine left in a hurry, except Satoshi who was assign to stay back and guard again, the party trickle out and disperse. I was very happy, sad, and worried at the same time.

I was happy because the party finally ended. I had never liked party that much. Plus now that brat, whose name I learned was Kai, will have to stop bugging me.

I was sad because my dad was one of the many marine that have to leave for LogueTown. He was the quartermaster for his fleet after all, so no matter how much I want him to stay, he can't.

I was worried for my dad and all the marines. This was the execution of the Pirate King after all; there was no way his comrades wouldn't at least try something to get him back. That's was why the fleets were called there. And my dad would be at the front line, fighting against the only crew to every reach Raftel so far.

At the same time, I was worried for me. I was in One Piece, which means my goal in life is become either a high ranked marine officer or a crew mate of one of the Supernovas. To be in anyone of those positions would means I have to stand out in a world where the average line is superhuman strength, devil's fruits, and people who overcome those things with sheer willpower.

…

…

…

I have a lonnggggggg way to go. Well, I guess it's a good thing I still have roughly twenty years before the main story line starts. I'm going to make a more detailed plan tomorrow, for now, I need to rest. That party was freaking tiring.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

The fleets returned about a month later. They were missing two ships, one fourth of the headcount, and the lieutenant didn't make it.

The moment dad stepped into the house I immediately noticed that something was wrong. He wasn't smiling right. Well, his mouth did curve up, but there was something mixed in with it. It was grief.

Mom pulled him into the house, sits him down, and left to get him something to drink. I toddled up to him, tugged on his pants, and sit in his labs. Mom came back a few minutes later with two cups of tea and a cup of warm milk. After mom sit down, dad started to tell us the story of his journey.

There was a bit of whining when he talked of how he had to leave on my birthday only to face the boredom of being on a ship for a week. Then there was excitement when he told us about their arrival at LogueTown and the story of the King who smiled in the face of death. Then the grief poured in when he recount the fight that they fought and the outcome. He told us of how he saw the lieutenant go down and was put in charge. And he told us of the time when he had to do a headcount of his fleets and came up with twenty three short. He told us of how they had arrived back at the island yesterday, but he had to go to and tell the family of the fallen soldiers of the fate of the departed. He told us of their faces. The faces of people who he knew, who he has always seen smiling. He told us how those faces twisted into grief and anger. He broke.

That day was the first time I've ever seen my dad cry.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

The next day, we hold a funeral for the departed. Our village was a small fishing village, ships and boats were always a part of our life, until the very end.

Out of the twenty three souls who were lost, nine were from our village. So, their families picked a rock, wrap it with the lost one's favorite clothes, decorate it with something they always wear, and put it in the same boat, so that they would have each other's company.

These boats were then sent out to the sea as the village chief say our prayers:

"Today we stand here to see our beloved departed for the other side. And we cry, for the ones who left, and the ones who stay. We pray for their road to be straight and true, and for their souls to find their ways to the better place."

Everyone was crying. I too cried a bit. One of the little girls I met on my birthday was bawling her eyes out. It seems her mother was one of the nine.

For a fleeting moment, I saw a blurry figure hugging the girl. The figure disappeared immediately so I assume it was just a hallucination.

Oh, how wrong I was.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

A few weeks later, people have started to let go of their grief and move on with their lives. My dad too, returned to the friendly and funny man that I always knew. But there was something strange about him. The games that he plays with me were getting more and more physically tasking, and the stories are starting to become very informative.

It took me quite a while but I finally caught on. He was training me. I don't know if he wants me to become a marine or not. All he ever taught me was the general things about surviving on the seas. The physical training, though, I am very sure he wants me to become a martial artist. He taught me how to punch properly.

This went on for until I was five. Then he took me to the local dojo. For the second time in my life, I met the old man in the white gi again. But this time, it was the first time I met as my martial art mentor.

I became a student of the Daigenso School of martial art.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

 **Ryuki: Come on, say it.**

 **Me: …**

 **Ryuki: You know you have to say, man.**

 **Me: …**

 **Ryuki: Dude. Come on.**

 **Me: All right all right. I'll say it.**

 **Ryuki: Good.**

 **Me: I apology to all my beloved readers, there were a bit of a mixed up that I did in the previous chapter about Ryuki's name. You see, "Ki" does not mean "forest", it means "tree". However, the meaning of Ryuki will stay the same, because the Kanji for "Ki" is a part of the Kanji for "Hayashi", which is "forest". Once again I sincerely apologize for my mistake.**


	7. Chapter 6: the Start of a Fighter

_These are thoughts_

"These are conversations"

And these are story teller

 **Hello my beloved readers, this fic has reached 1000 views! To celebrate, here is a chapter and a new cover. Enjoy everyone. PS: I wish I own One Piece, but my luck sucks, so I don't own it.**

 **-/\\-/\\-**

When I first became a martial artist, I immediately notice that the School had a strange belt system. It goes from white, gray, striped gray, striped black, black, and then white striped black.

You learned everything basic in white belt. From the correct stands, blocks, dodges, to punches and kicks. Then you level up to gray, where you learn to observe and react to your surroundings, a.k.a. being a walking target for everyone in the Dojo to ambush. After that, you get to choose a weapon that you like and stick with it forever. And then things get weird.

You see, in the Daigenso School of martial art, they teaches four different styles of martial art. Each style is represented by a different color. Getting your first stipe means no more ambushes. However, you have to stick to that specific style until you are good enough to teach it to other newcomers. Then you pick the second style and repeat the process.

Once you can teach all four styles, your belt change to black with stripes. This is the time where you get to focus on mastering the styles you have learned. You get to take off the stripe that represents the style that you have mastered.

The completely black belts signify the status of a master. They go on to find the right combination of the style into one that fits them, the ultimate, the final, the true style. Those who have found their true styles are known as grand masters. Only three grand masters currently exist in the world.

Anyway, as suggested by the School's name, which means "Great Elements", the four styles are named after elements.

There's the "Gentle Wave", whose stripes are blue. They focus on redirecting the attacks and aim for fatal points. Their attacks might not carry much power or strength but damn if it doesn't hurt.

The next style is the "Gracious Wind" and green stripes. This style is mainly about dodging and hitting so fast their opponent can't counter. They're normally finished before you can execute your first move.

Third style is called the "Raging Flame", of course, red stripes. Like its name implied, this style forgo most technique in exchange for power. I've seen students of this style broke through concrete walls, with their heads!

And finally there's the "Steady Earth" style with the yellow stripes. Unlike the other style, this one focus is on defense. They take the attack head on, stop then cold, and only counter. Though with the way they take on freaking cannonballs, I'd say they're training Iron Body.

It took me a whole day to learn the School's rules and regulations. But I did get to meet the masters. Most of the striped black and above left on training journeys, so there are only five masters in the Dojo. One head for each style and Kenichi-sensei (Shishou make him feels old). Kenichi-sensei is one of the only True masters, the other two left long ago. One is traveling and sent mails back once in a while. The other simply vanished.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

Thanks to my father starting me early, I was able to pass the white belt test within the first month of training. And then the gray belt test within the next year. I think they let me pass because of how I kneed people when I'm surprised with the exception of my dad and Reina, who always mange to sneak up on me.

They handed me the belt and let me to the weapon storage. There were weapons of every kind. I tried out the sword, the axe, the dagger and so many weapons. Both I know and don't. I spent the whole day in the storage but couldn't find anything that feels right. Giving up, I decided to go with the dagger. However, just as I was about to pick up the dagger, something caught my eyes. Buried deep under the pile of old and used weapons were a pair of gauntlets. I picked them up and examined them. They were in perfect condition. I put them on and try them out. It felt natural, like they were meant to be mine. So I chose gauntlets as my weapon.

After choosing my weapon I had to return to the Dojo the next day due to it being midnight when I was done. This time I had to decide my next lessons.

Normally, children at my age stay as gray and get a white stripe to avoid ambushes. After all, who would expect a six year old to be able to figure out which style is best for them?

I said no to that.

This is the time where my brain can learn the most. There is no chance in hell am I going to pass it up.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

I picked "Gently Wave as my first style.

As a Wave student, I spent the majority of my time learning the locations of points on a body. Mostly where it hurts the most when hit, which angle to push to dislocate a joint… and other incredibly nasty stuffs.

I also had to learn how to read the opponents' movements and the path of their attacks.

We use a human size wooden doll for practice. You have to hit certain points on the doll that the instructor tell you to. Otherwise, you get attack by the doll. And you're only allowed to redirect the attack, no blocking or dodging.

The bruise I had has bruises when the day was done. Well it was great motivation.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

It was pretty funny teaching a bunch of marine in the body of a ten year old. Kenichi-sensei said that I was supposed to be able to choose my second style when I was nine but the adults wouldn't let me because I was too young. So when he found out able it, he put his foot down.

The second style I chose was "Raging Flame". Since this is his main style, Kenichi-sensei decided to mentor me himself. His training added with my dad's made my progress speed up, majorly.

The first thing that Kenichi-sensei told me was a poem of some sort. He claimed it was the style's motto:

When face with a foe

Let them feel your soul

The fire that it hold

AND BURN

Sensei screamed out that last line and crackles like a maniac. I think I found out why he chose Flame as his main style. He's a pyromaniac.

The training I had to do includes punching sandbags with weights on my arms, pushups while another student sit on me (they're all older than twenty mind you), climb the freaking marine base with only one hand, and other ridiculous sounding exercises.

My muscle burned like it's on fire. And I think I found the reason why some students refer to the style as the "Burning Hell". _OW! MUSCLE PAIN!_

 **-/\\-/\\-**

I chose my third style when I was twelve. It makes me wonder how I'm getting so strong so fast. Thinking for a bit, I came to the conclusion that either I'm a genius of sort now, or being reborn really helped me out, OR Kenichi-sensei and dad is really good at training others. This also made me question the routines I've been doing.

Since my dad told me to leave Earth for later, I decided to get the green stripe instead. The instructor told me on the first day that the way to succeed is to be like the wind. You move according to the opponents' move, flow around it like wind flowing around objects.

With all the running I've been doing since I was a child, coupled with the lesson on reading movements from Wave, and the hellish training I did with Flame, I blazed through this style. I've been really fast since I was a child, and getting faster. I can tell where the attack will be to dodge them. And with the strength I have in my arms I can hit incredibly fast. The tricky part was that I have to exchange power for speed. And hitting so fast make you lose accuracy.

The training for this style is pretty fun. We had to hit targets that were thrown at us.

It was fun until Kenichi-sensei joined the fray. Then it was nuts. Targets were flying from everywhere, people were flying too (from being hit), and I was in the middle of it all.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

After two years, I finally got my last stripe. Dad said he wanted me to be at least twenty before I start "Steady Earth" but I grew so fast.

At the age of fourteen, I was already taller than my mom. Considering how tall my dad was, it's safe to assume that I'm going to be quite tall when I grow up. Although it the fact that my chest has not developed at all was a bit weird. I got my hair from mom, bright red, and eyes from dad, storm gray. They were both very pretty but annoying. Everyone kept mistaking me for a guy, and the girls from other villages kept sending me fan letters. The guys' hysterical laughter and the girls' giggling that I hear everywhere did not help at all.

Anyway, turns out, dad is the head of the Earth. If the way all dad physically can't feel pain anymore is any indication, this style is going to be a lot of a pain.

And I was right. Although all the training I've done so far increased my pain tolerance, the exercises hurts like getting run over by a truck. Repeatedly.

I had to endurance training. A.k.a. stand in the same spot while they pelt balls at me. We had to "take it like a man", as they put it. The balls will later on change into rocks, boulders and other hard objects. Thankfully, they don't use bullets for this exercise. It's used for block training only.

Block training is similar to the endurance one. Except that we're allow to use our chosen weapons to block the projectiles.

Although the training for Earth is very harsh and painful, I just can't help but fall in love with it. The aspect of being able to protect my important people was something that pulled me in. And at risk of being cliché (I live in a fishing village), the first time I saw demonstrations of this style, I was "hook, line, and sinker".

 **-/\\-/\\-**

 **Me: And that's it for this chapter.**

 **Ryuki: Good job. Almost 1800 words.**

 **Me: Heh. Thank you.**

 **Ryuki: Now, the announcement.**

 **Me: Oh, right! Ahem. My beloved reader, I've decided to use this little corner for Q &A. I really enjoy reading the reviews and will read them no matter how many there are.**

 **Ryuki: So, if there is something that anyone wants to know, Haru will answer them here or in the story itself.**

 **Me: Yup. That's it. Good day everyone.**


	8. Chapter 7: the Strangers in My life

_These are thoughts_

"These are conversations"

And these are story teller

 **Hello my beloved readers, I've ran out of things to announce, so here is a new chapter. Enjoy everyone. PS: I wish I own One Piece, but my luck sucks, so I don't own it.**

 **-/\\-/\\-**

Ever since I attended that funeral when I was a baby, I've been seeing these strange people walking around the village. I call them "Strangers" due to how they never interact with anything or anyone. They ignore everyone and vice versa.

The Strangers are always surrounded by this weird fog. It thin but really dense. The fog seems to rise up from wherever the Strangers' feet touches the ground. It makes seeing the Strangers' faces a bit difficult sometimes.

The first time I wave at one of them, they didn't react. It was like they either didn't see me or they thought I wasn't waving at them. I kept waving at the Strangers for years.

My persistence finally provided result one day. A Stranger wearing marine uniform walk by me that day and I decided to wave at her. She paused for a moment, looked around, and then pointed at her. I nodded.

I have never seen anyone as happy as the Stranger at that time. Whereas her face was a mask of indifference and confusion from earlier, now it lit up no one's business. I felt like looking at a light bulb. She then gave me a bright smile, waved, and resumed walking.

After that, the Strangers started to respond to my waves. Whenever I wave at them, they would look so happy. I just couldn't stop waving and smiling at them even though the girls tent to take it the wrong way. They always fought with each other over who I waved at.

Oops.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

When I was young, there were six kids that would come and play with me. However, as I grow up, so did they. Most of them stopped coming over, though we do greet each other when we meet. Only two of those six remained my friends. They were Kai and Hitomi.

Kai had blue hair and purple eyes; tall and fit. He was the hot boy in the village, even more so since he grew out of his bratty stage, and into a lady's man. Unfortunately for me, the girls go after me (since I'm ranked as the second hot boy for some reason) because Kai only have eyes for one girl, Hitomi. Hitomi had brown hair and the most beautiful shade of green for her eyes. She's taller than most girls and extremely beautiful. She was the girl I saw crying at the funeral. And she's also in love with Kai.

Apparently, on the days after the funeral, Kai kept on pestering Hitomi until she exploded at him. She tackled him, punched him repeatedly, and yelled at him. All the while, Kai kept on the straight face. After a minute or two, Hitomi stopped hitting him and sobbed into his arms. Kai made her let all of her frustration and sadness out instead of keeping and them inside. They have been childhood sweethearts ever since.

After fourteen years of dancing around each other, Kai finally ask Hitomi for her hands, which brings me to my current predicament. Two days before their wedding, I was approached by someone I never expected.

I was walking home from the Dojo when I was approached by the first Stranger that responded to me. She introduced herself as Itami and asked if we could talk in private. I agreed and went with her.

She asked me many questions about Hitomi and Kai, mostly about whether Kai was liable to make Hitomi cry. I answered all of her question with maximum caution. After all, wouldn't you get suspicious if some stranger asked about your friends?

About twenty minutes later, I couldn't hold it in anymore and asked her the million dollar question: what's her relation to Hitomi and Kai?

She said she was Hitomi's mother.

"Liar". I answered immediately. "Hitomi's mother is dead."

"I'm not lying. I'm really her mother." Itami replied, a little sad and a little amused.

"Hah! Do really think I'm going to buy that?" I snarled. "Like I said, she's dead."

"I am dead". She said.

That cut me up short.

 _Did she just say that she's dead? What the hell is she talking about? How am I supposed to talk to her if she's dead?_

Then it clicked.

 _Wait a second. Fog covered legs no presence among the village, and extremely happy that someone interact with them. It all makes sense now. The Strangers are …_

"Ghost" I whispered in horror.

Blood rushed off my face faster than I thought possible. My "fight or flight" defense mechanism kicked in and was spamming the "flight" option. Unfortunately for me, my legs won't budge. I went limb and scrambled backward franticly while muttering repeatedly:

"Shit shit shit, don't come near me, don't come near me, shit shit, fuck, move, my legs, move, FUCK FUCK SHITT" And everything else related.

Just as my voice started to rise in volume, a laugh rang out. It was clear like a bell but old, mature, and hardened by time and trauma. The laugh pulled me out of my near hyperventilating state. I focused onto the source of the voice. It was Itami, laughing her ass off:

"AHAHAHAHAHA, OH GODS. AHAHAHAHAHA, LOOK AT YOUR FACE! AHAHAHAHAHA"

I was stunned speechless. For five minutes straight, Itami kept laughing while I kept staring at her like she had grown a second head.

When we finally calm down, Itami gave me a hand while snickering at me. I, on the other hand, was glaring at her. HARD. I still grab her hand anyway, no reason to refuse a helping hand. Still scowling, I noticed Itami look really surprised when she pulled me up.

"That's new." She said.

"Huh? What is?" I inquired.

"Normally, living people can't touch us. They just parted us like fog." She explained. "So, going by that logic, you would have failed, again."

I gave her the flattest look ever.

"Tch. Do you mind explaining to me about this … ghost thing?" and why you approached me for that matter."

Itami smiled and told me everything that she knew about being a Stranger (yes, I'm still going to call them that). Strangers are basically a combination of guardian angel and ghost, a guardian ghost if you will. They are the soul of the deceased who could not move on due to how much they still want to protect someone. Normally, they are completely invisible to the living. Although there are times and places where there are enough energy to make them visible for a moment, and anyone can see them. However, the protectors and the protected can never see each other no matter what.

And that's where I comes in. since I have some sort of power deep inside my soul that allowed me to see and touch them, I am the perfect medium. For the power, Itami said that it doesn't seem to be coming from my soul, more like a residue that was left behind by someone or something. It was powerful, dark, but surprisingly not evil.

 _Powerful, dark, but not evil? Makes sense. Death will always win; Death is generally a negative thing; Death comes to everyone, good and evil alike. And I, who have met face to face with Death, have its power lingering on my soul._

Anyway, the most important point that Itami told me is that she wished to give her blessing to Hitomi and Kai, face to face. With me as a medium for her to possess, she can. The catch is that, the first time they met, protector to protected, will also be the last time they ever will.

"Are you sure about this? Absolutely sure? One hundred percent sure?" I asked

"Yes. I spent almost fifteen years watching her Ryuki, I'm sure" She rolled her eyes.

"Alright. Fine. I'll help you." I gave in. "How are we going to do this though?"

"Ah, I … Um … That is …" She drawled

"You don't have a plan?" I asked, incredulous.

"I didn't think you'd excepted!" She defended.

"Argrrgrggrrr"

We spent the whole afternoon planning the surprise.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

 **Ryuki: I can't believe I did not notice they're ghosts earlier.**

 **Me: Lol.**

 **Ryuki: -_- Moving on.**

 **Me: Heh. Alright let's see. We questions from two reviewers!**

 **Ryuki: Sweet. Let's start with CrystalSekers.**

 **Me: Ok. My secret? What secret? I just write the story twice, one on paper and one on the laptop. And Ryuki will be focusing on being a martial artist, but she will learn other stuff that compliment her fighting style. What they are, you'll have to either guess or keep on reading.**

 **Ryuki: Next one is from Aliahra.**

 **Me: Hmmm, this one is a bit tricky. Which hallucination are you talking about? If it's the one on the Prologue then she's having a meeting with Death. If it's at the funeral then she's seeing a Stranger for the first time.**

 **Itami: IT'S ME.**

 **Me: ACK. Where did you came from? Get out. Out out out.**

 **Itami: Hehe, bye bye.**


	9. Chapter 8: the Medium and the Big Day

_These are thoughts_

"These are conversations"

And these are story teller

 **Hello my beloved readers, sorry for being late. I caught a cold and now I have to deal with exams too. Here's a new chapter though. Enjoy! PS: I've tried(in my dreams), but I still don't own One Piece.**

 **-/\\-/\\-**

On the day of the wedding, everyone was dressed up and generally happy. Hitomi asked her best friend to be the maid of honor. I got to be Kai's best man (screw you Kai, screw you). Kai was wearing a white tuxedo while I wore a black one. We stood at the altar, opposite of the blue dressed maid, and waited for Hitomi. The wait was totally worth it as she appeared looking like a princess straight out of a fairy tale. The way Kai's jaw dropped made me wish I had a camera.

Kai finally managed to regain his composure when Hitomi reached the altar. The priest read them the vows while tying a red string connecting the two's pinkies. They both said "yes" and tie the string to each other's ring fingers. Finally, they shared a kiss. Then everyone roared in celebration.

After the ceremony, the newly wed were struck together through the string for the rest of the day. So, they spend the wedding party right next to each other.

There were people dancing, eating, drinking, and crying. Those fan boys can make a new freaking river with their tears.

I enjoyed the party too, even though I had to stick close to the couple due to the amount of my fan girls attending the party. Being asked to dance by twenty four girls is twenty four times more than enough.

 _I am sooo going to get you back for this Kai. I swear. Wait, since those two are stuck together for the night, maybe I can get him in the plan too. Kahahahaha, Itami is going to have fun interrogating you._

I made sure that the two didn't themselves drunk and followed them when they left. Noticing my behavior, Kai asked:

"Ryuki, what's up? You're acting kinda weird man."

"Hmm? Really?" I replied.

"Just a bit. Are you ok?" Hitomi inquired.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. I need a favor from you two though." I said.

"I need you two to come with me for a bit. It's something I need to show you two in private." I answered mysteriously.

Kai and Hitomi exchanged a look before shrugging and agreed.

I led them to a small, secluded cabin just outside of the village. Once they were inside, I locked the door with a padlock so neither of them can escape. The cabin had absolutely nothing in it, not even a window. The only source of light was the lantern I was holding, which I carefully put down and turned to the couple:

"Alright, there should be no one to interrupt or overheard us here."

"What is this "thing" that you would need such privacy?" Kai questioned?

"I'll tell you, but first, you guys need to listen to me and stay calm." I said, "You see, for as long as I can remember, I've always been able to see these people that I called Strangers. The Strangers are everywhere but no one but me can see them. I just found out the reason for that a few days ago when a certain Stranger came up to me."

I shot a look at the fog that slipped through the crack under the door and formed into Itami.

"This Stranger told me they were ghosts." I paused for dramatic effect, "And that her name was Itami."

Immediately, Hitomi paled. She had understood what I was saying. And apparently, so did Kai.

"Dude, you do realize you're talking crazy right? Ghost doesn't exist." He scowled at me.

"Ryuki, are you sure you're ok?" Hitomi asked me.

My eye twitched. Itami warned me that they might deny that ghost could exist, but to think I was crazy? That's a little bit…

"I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine." I said.

"Then why are you making up stories about dead people?" Kai asked.

"I am not making up stories." I replied.

We kept talking back and forth, with Kai claiming I was crazy, Hitomi asking if I'm really ok, and me just trying to get them to accept the truth. That went on for quite a while, and everyone was getting more and more agitated. Finally, Kai snapped.

"Dude, I don't know what the hell is wrong with you right now, but you need to see a doctor. I'm, we're, not gonna waste more of our time on this. We're leaving." Kai growled at me.

He turned around and tried to open the door. However, he couldn't do anything to the padlock with only one hand free. Hitomi stood right next to him, kept looking back and sending me worried glances.

Honestly, I felt really frustrated. And the laughing fit that Itami was having did not help the matter at all. I decided to just give up on convincing them and just proceed to showing them the actual ghost. I turned to Itami and said:

"It doesn't look like they're going to believe me unless they see you. So, let's just get on with the plan."

Itami stopped laughing. Slowly, she turned to me and gave me a smile.

"You know, meeting you have been the best thing that happened to me for the past one and a half decade." She hugged me, "Thank you, for keeping me entertained, and for giving me this chance. Thank you and farewell."

I blacked out.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

When I woke up, I was on my bed, in my room. I felt really tired, like I haven't move for a long time.

 _That's odd. How did I ended up at home? Did Kai and Hitomi get me home somehow? Or did Itami walk home as me? Wait, but didn't she had to move on right after she met Hitomi? Ugh, ow. My head hurts. I'll just figure that out when I meet those two._

I got up and cleaned up. After I got myself some food, I went and look for the two newlyweds. Since those two moved out to a new house after the wedding, I decided to look there. I found them in their backyard, just sitting and talking to each other.

I knocked on their fence gate to get their attention. They both stood up really fast when they see me. Kai almost ran to me. He opened the gate and invited me in. I complied.

I stood awkwardly in front of the two for some time, not knowing how to start the conversation. In the end, I gathered my courage and spoke:

"Hey guys. Um…about yesterday…" I tried

"Yesterday?" Kai cut in "You were still asleep yesterday. D'you mean the night before?"

That shut me up.

 _The night before? I slept for a whole day? Holy! What the hell? Did getting possessed take that much energy? Oh wow. Damn. I need to look for more information on this._

Despite my internal thought process, I continued.

"Right. The night before. About that…" I tried again.

My sentence was cut off this time as Hitomi literally went flying into my arms. She body tackled me. Even though I was completely surprised, I still managed to keep both of us from falling on the ground.

"RYUKI! YOU'RE OK!" She examined me all over, "Oh gods, you wouldn't wake up! I was so worry! Everyone was!"

"Yeah. We were really worry man. No matter what we tried, you just wouldn't wake up." Kai scowled "I had to lug you back on my shoulder. And you're not that light man. Seriously, your muscles feels and weight like freaking rocks!"

"Since you told us that the whole "thing" was supposed to be a secret, we had to tell your parents you tripped and hit your head." Hitomi said "But you can figure that out later. Now I'm just glad you're Ok."

I was speechless in Hitomi bear hug. I had expected disdain or awkwardness, or hell, even disgust. But not genuine worries like this. Maybe I didn't give these two enough credit.

"Umm, excuse me, but what exactly happened that night?" I asked.

"You don't remember?" Kai asked, incredulous.

"Well, no. I remember telling Itami to get on with the plan and you two trying to escape and that's it." I answered, not telling them about the hug for some reason.

"Alright." Kai took the answer with a strange face.

Apparently, after I blacked out (I don't faint), Itami possess me as planned. The possession itself was too disturbing to go into details, according to Kai. So, no information there. Anyway, Hitomi was able to see Itami herself, and that convinced them about the existence of her ghost. Itami talked to Hitomi, asked many question about her life and just generally being the worrywart of a mother that she is. Then, to my delight, she interrogated Kai. After she was satisfied, she gave the two her blessing. Then move on.

Hitomi and left behind crying into Kai's arms. Until Itami was completely gone and I fall down like a log that is. There was an oddly dreadful aura that seemed to come out of me. Kai took his chance and approached my still form. My body was cold, and my breathing was so soft they thought I was dead.

So, they quickly took the key from my pocket, open the lock with combined effort, and, I paraphrase, "lug" me back. They called the doctor. He said I was in perfect health and should wake up soon. However, I slept for a whole day.

"But now you're awake. I'm really glad." Hitomi said, still refusing to let go of me.

"Sooooooo, about the whole "thing" though." I drawled.

"About that…Um…Hahhhh." Kai signed, "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"What?" I was startled.

"I mean, I know you would never make such a prank, and definitely not on such an important day." Kai said, "But I've never seen a ghost before…"

"Strangers, I call them Strangers." I cut in. "Besides being covered in fog and technically not existing, they're just like your everyday people."

"Right…Strangers." Kai said, "Anyway, I've never seen one before. So, I couldn't really believe you on the spot. And I yelled at you and called you crazy and every too. And I'm sorry for that."

"Me too, Ryuki." Hitomi chimed in, "I'm sorry I doubted you too."

Honestly, I did not expect them to apologize when I came here. I was expecting them to inquire about what and how I can see the Strangers. Though, this is good too.

"It's Ok. I don't mind." I responded, "I didn't expect neither of you two to believe me immediately, so no harm no foul."

"Thank you." Hitomi replied. "You're a really good friend. You know that?"

"Do I?" I teased, "Yeah, of course I do."

At the end of the day, everything came through for all of us and we stayed friends. That was all I asked for. So right now, life was good. Life was very good.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

 **Ryuki: LOLOLOL. I can't believe you actually did that. XD**

 **Me: SHUT UP DAMMIT. DAM YOU WORD. DAM YOU CODING PROCESS. T.T**

 **Ryuki: lol. Sorry everyone for Haru's embarrassing mistake. We did not expect that to happen at all.**

 **Me: T.T My grand entry.**

 **Ryuki: Well, Haru is out of commission for now. So, thank you to "dameg" and "Aliahra" for pointing that problem out for us. We have fixed the problem and will try to update again as soon as possible.**

 **Me: sob sob sob**

 **Ryuki: Oh. WILL YOU QUIT IT ALREADY?!**


	10. Chapter 9: and Life goes On

_These are thoughts_

"These are conversations"

And these are story teller

 **Hello my beloved readers. Here's a new chapter as an apology for the "coding" problem of the last chapter. It's fixed by the way. PS: I both wish I do and do not own One Piece, Lord Oda is too good.**

 **-/\\-/\\-**

My dad decided to retired after ten years of serving as the lieutenant in charge of the marine base on my island, which was called Sushi. I'm not kidding, it's called Sushi. The villages on the island are all named after the food. My village is called Toro. It kind of makes sense since the majority of the villagers are fisherman.

Back to the main topic, my dad retired at the age of forty. It seems twenty two years of service was enough for him. Now he's just a fisherman. A really buff fisherman that can survive a cannon fire but still. He goes fishing with Satoshi and Reina, who both retired and got married a few years back. They did not marry each other, mind you.

Now that there is no one in charge, the marine headquarter send us Commodore Bowhort. Every marine I know call him Blowhort, it sounds like Blowhard. They said that he's a "narcissist, cowardice, and infuriating midget". Now, I've never met the man so I couldn't really say anything. Until he came into the dojo looking like the king of the world.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

It was a normal day for me. I woke up, help around the house, and then go teach at the dojo. I've received the privilege of choosing when and what I want to teach after I got my bet upgraded to a striped black one last month. I set the record for being the youngest black belt holder at the age of fifteen. Considering how the previous record holder was twenty three years old (my dad), I have every right to boast.

Anyway, it was around noon, we were in the training ground. Kenichi–sensei was terrifying the newbies at the mountain side, the Wave master was training under the waster fall, and I was throwing rocks at my students to have f *Ahem cough cough* ah, um, I mean, train them.

Everyone halted as the dojo door was thrown open and then walked in a group of marines. Leading them was the man the whole island knew as Commodore Blowhort.

True to the description, he was a short and skinny man. Imagine a black haired dwarf that was starved for a month, that's what he looked like. If the wind were to blow, I would be worry if he'd fly away. He wasn't ugly, but wasn't good looking either. He looked really arrogant though.

"So this is the famous Daigenso dojo, huh?" he smirked, "Shabby."

The students reacted badly. They would have mauled him if Kenichi-sensei didn't speak up:

"Shua ha ha ha ha, welcome to our humble place, Commodore. How can we help you?"

"Help me? HAH. I'm here to help you!" Bowhort laughed. "I'm quite interested in becoming a martial art master, you see. So I'll give you the honor if giving a black belt!"

I don't think I've felt such strong killing intent coming from our students, ever.

 _Honestly, I don't blame them. I want to bash the bastard's face in. Who does he think he is? A noble? Oh please. The most he can be is a complete fail cosplay version of a certain pink-feathered bastard._

"Oh? A black belt you said?" Kenichi-sensei responded, "I'm afraid I cannot grant you that."

"NO? HOW DARE YOU? I'M MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU! YOU SENILE OLD FART. GIVE ME THE BELT!" Blowhort raged

"Very well. If you truly desired to be a master, I will allow you." Kenichi-sensei said.

"WHAT?", "WHY?", and "SENSEI NO!" was the screams of everyone else in the dojo.

"However, you must be able to defeat one of our own masters. What do you say?" sensei smiled predatorily.

"Hah. Fine. I can take anyone you send." He boasted.

"Very well. Please. Choose one of the masters that are currently here." Sensei waved for us.

We stepped up and stood in a line next to sensei. There were sensei, Wave master, the Wind master, dad, and me. We lined up according to seniority.

Out of all of us masters, Kenichi-sensei and my dad looked like walking mountains; Wave master look like a mad doctor; Wind master scares everyone with her creepy smile; and there's me, the young girl who looks like a pretty boy and is generally the least threatening one of the bunch. My students said otherwise though.

After considering his options, Blowhort, the coward that he is, picked me. The following gasps, snorts, giggles, and whispers were interesting to listen to.

"That coward, picking the youngest one."

"He he he, Ryuki-shisho is going to pound him in ground."

"Ohhh, this is gonna be good."

"That poor dude, it's going to be hard to peel him of the floor."

The whispers made Blowhort uncomfortable. The smirks on the other masters' faces made him even more worried.

Seeing that Blowhort didn't have a weapon, I pass my gauntlets to dad as a show of sportsmanship. I walked out directly in front of him and bow to my opponent. I took the stand of Earth style - a right back stand, arms squared up at hip level, left fist point forward (parallel to left leg) and right fist at my hip - and wait.

Blowhort put on a show of moves that looks like an imitation of Kung Fu. Then he charged at me and threw a right punch. I tensed, straighten out my left arm, open my fist and catch his punch. I anticipate being pushed back a bit due to how sensei usually threw me off my feet. However, there was nothing. Blowhort's punch was so weak, I couldn't even feel it.

He pulled back and threw another punch with his left. I deflected his punch, grab his wrist and add my own force. Blowhort went sailing at the marines. I went back into my stand and wait for him again.

Blowhort stood up and my eyes widen. He pulled out a sword from one of the marine, who didn't look very happy, and charged at me. I hastily switch into the Wind stand – left front stand, arms at chest level, open hands, palms down, relaxed, left arm forward, right arm in front of chest – and dodge his slashes. I dodged to the right, left, right again, then backward. As his sword passed where my left arm was (I pulled it back) I added my own force to his swing with a fast slap to the back of his sword using my right hand. The slap knocked the sword out of his hands. With the already pulled back arm, I gave a forward palm to his face, sending him back into the groups of marines.

It seems being knocked down two times enraged him. Blowhort grabbed a pistol from another marine. He opened fires at me. Dad threw my gauntlets toward me. I dodge the bullets and put the gauntlets on as it was flying. Using the momentum, I twisted around and caught the bullet that was heading for my face.

Whereas the crowd was booing since Blowhort used the sword, they were absolutely silent as I stood there. Blowhort jaw drop on the ground. So did his pistol.

I dropped the bullet. The clang it made rang out as loud as a gong. It prompted the crowd to explode in cheers and Blowhort to fell on his ass. I walk toward him as he scrambled backward. The marine parted way for me. I grabbed him by the collar, pull him up and said:

"You need to train a lot more."

Then delivered a downward rifling punch to his face.

The crowd went wild. I stood there, but all I could think was:

 _Dammit, I'm going to have to fix that crack. Do I have to pull up the whole board?_

 **-/\\-/\\-**

After the incident, Blowhort never show his face at the dojo again. He did give me the murderous eyes for a weak before having to stop due to my fan girls. Seriously, their combined anger is something no one should ever have to deal with.

I got a lot of praises and gifts (fan girls) after the dual. I had to hide in the dojo a lot, too (fan girls). During those times, when the students have not arrived, I rather train or meditate.

In one of my meditating session, I could not clear my head, so I just let my thoughts wander. I thought about my styles and my past life. I tried to think and possibly recall something that could help me develop my True Style.

I didn't find anything helpful, but one thing did pop out.

It was a cartoon. In this cartoon, the people have unique fighting styles that were based around four elements like my School. Most people can't truly master all four styles like ours (there are only three True Masters currently alive). Those who did were called a special name:

"The Avatar." I sputtered out.

I gave up trying to meditate, seeing how I couldn't stop my laughing fit.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

A part of my daily training routine was running around the island. I've been doing that ever since I was a kid. Now, I run about fifty laps before the sun was completely up.

I was running on the beach and the sun was rising like usual. The sky was a beautiful color red. As I ran, I saw someone standing from afar, waiting. Coming closer, I notice it was dad. So I called out to him:

"DAD"

He turned, notice me and start running to me.

"RYUKI"

"DAD"

"RYUKI"

"DA…ERGH"

I jerked to a stop as a scene flashed before my eyes

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Replacing us was a man and a boy. They look identical. Both were very muscular, wore green spandexes, and had really bushy eyebrows. As they ran across the beach, under the scarlet sky of sunrise, they called out:

"GUY-SENSEI"

"LEE"

"GUY-SENSEI"

"LEE"

Then they embraced each other as the waves of the ocean roared in the background.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

My blood evacuated my face.

 _Oh bloody hell no._

I turned tail and ran.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

Time truly fly when you did not pay attention and today was a big day for me. Today is the day that I am no longer a child, but a grown up. Today is my eighteenth birthday.

The eighteenth birthday is a very important occasion on my island. It was seen as the mark of maturity. When the time comes, the whole village will hold a party to celebrate the fortunate soul. My birthday, of course, was no exception.

The party looked like a festival. Everyone was there. Even those not from my village, mostly my fellow martial artists (and fan girls). Booths were set up so everyone knows where to get stuff. At first. Now there are food booths, liquor booths, and game booths.

 _This is not a party. It's a fucking festival. And WHICH BASTARD GAVE REINA THE RUM?!_

I had to stay at the center of the festival, aka, my house, and welcome everyone. I had to shake hands and say thank you for two fucking hours. It was exhausting.

The festivity died down around sunset and everyone went home. Only a Kenichi-sensei, Reina, Satoshi, Hitomi, and Kai stayed. We had our private celebration until midnight. It was really fun. However, the strange eye signals that everyone kept sending to one another was starting to bug me.

Finally, they urged me to open the presents. There were a lot of snacks, candies, and my favorite, jerky. I could live my whole life on that god-sent delicacy. There were also other stuffs like gems and jewelries for some reason. I don't even use those. There were strangely, a lot of straight up cash as presents too. Weird.

The people that were currently sitting beside me decided to give me their present after I opened everyone else's. Reina's was first. She gave me a charm. A sea-travel charm.

 _What the fuck am I going to need it for?_

I accepted it with a wide smile anyway. Then Kai gave me his gift. It was a really nice brown bag. The bottom of the bag was a flat, hard, circular metal disk, giving it a nice cylindrical shape when it was fully open. There was also wire-mesh woven into the bag itself. Two cloth covered wire-mesh connect the same spot of the bag's mouth to two different spots on its bottom as handle. All in all, it was high grade travel bag.

 _Nice. But odd. I'm not travelling anywhere._

Hitomi stepped up after, and gave me a similar bag. Only, it was much smaller and doesn't have the metal bottom. She said it's to keep my Beries.

 _A wallet. An arrow-proofed wallet._

My mom hugged me, teary-eyed, and gave a flat box. There were a white gi with the School's logo sewn on the back – circle composed of green, blue, red, and yellow megatamas - inside.

 _This is awesome._

I hugged her back.

My dad went next. His present was in a cube box. I found a pair of jet black, steel-toed, combat boots in that box. He said they were tailored to let me move like I was barefoot.

 _Sweet. I've always wanted one of these._

Then Kenichi-sensei presented me with a carefully bandaged bundle. It belonged to one of the True Master that was travelling he said. I accepted the bundle and carefully unwrap it. The bundle revealed itself as a pair of gauntlets. They were beautiful. The gauntlets covered all fingers and almost all of my fore arms. The joints were made you that the user could freely move theirs as if it was made of fabric instead of metal. The gauntlets were smooth except the edge on the elbow, for extra damage when elbowing people, and small spikes on the knuckles.

Kenichi-sensei leaned over as I admired the gauntlets I just put on. He pushed two hidden buttons behind the elbow edges. Right before my eyes, the hand parts of the gauntlets seemed to melt and receded into the forearm. I think I did quite a good imitation of Luffy's sparkling eyes.

They all laugh at that and let me admire the gift some more. Then Satoshi came forward and gave a paper. A map to be exact. There was an X at one of the harbor slots and scribbles pointing to. "Your own boat." It read.

 _My own boat? Wait. Sea-travel charm. High grade travel bags. New clothes. Now a boat? Are they telling me to go?_

There were so many questions I could ask, but all I could say was:

"What?"

"You have been a master for a long time now Ryuki." Sensei explained, "We didn't tell you before, because you were still too young. But now that you're eighteen, we decided it's time"

"For what?" I asked him, bewildered.

"For you to travel, daughter." Dad answered. "Every master has to travel the world at least once to better themselves."

"What?" I asked again.

"It's a School's tradition, Ryuki. Your dad had to travel before too." Satoshi tried.

"You don't have to travel forever, child. Just at least two years." Reina said.

"WHAT?" I screamed out, interrupting everyone.

I was on the border of hyperventilating.

 _They want me to travel? To leave this island for two years? I can't do that. I can't leave. How am I supposed to protect my family if I'm gone?_

"That's why I'm here daughter." Dad interrupted my internal train of thought.

Apparently I said that last part out loud.

"That's why you're here? Wait a minute. You retired last year." I realized, "You were preparing for this?"

"Honey, please, calm down." mom cut in, "It's for your own good."

"For my own good? FOR MY OWN GOOD?" I screamed, "HOW IS TELLING ME TO LEAVE FOR MY OWN GOOD?"

"Because you need to learn child." Sensei said.

"What?" I looked at him, not understanding any of what is happening.

"The world is a vast place, Ryuki." Dad said, closing the distance between us, "And this island is very small."

"But…" I cut myself off.

I wanted to say so much more but I couldn't. It was his eyes. They were filled to the brim with love, sadness and pride. It hurts. Because I know those emotions are for me. He love me so much, he wanted to protect me so much, how could I not know, he was my dad. We shared the same protectiveness in our very core, there was no way I could separate myself from my family willingly. Neither could dad. And yet, here he was, sending me away, for my own good, even if it hurts him, just as much as it hurts me. I couldn't speak. I wanted to yell at him. But whatever I want to say were stuck at my throat, unwilling to get out, unwilling to hurt him more that he already was.

He embraced me. And I cracked. I buried myself into his chest; tears dwelled up in my eyes.

"Dad. I don't want to go." I told him, "I don't want to leave. I… I'm scare."

I clung to him like he was my lifeline. In a way, he was, and has always been, ever since I first heard his voice.

"Silly child." his normally powerful voice were so soft, so gentle, "There is nothing to be afraid of. After all, it doesn't matter where you go, what you learn, or who you would become, we will always support you. We will always be proud of you. And, we will always be here to welcome you home."

I cried.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

It took me two weeks to fully come to term with the fact that I'm going to leave the island. Once I did, one set my goal for my journey. I'm going to at least make a name for myself and make my parents proud.

I traded all of the jewelries and gems into Beries and stashed them in my new boat. I put my clothes in the build in chest on the boat. Then, wearing the gifts that I got, which would later on becoming my iconic look, I bid my family goodbye, and set sail into a new chapter of my life.

 **-/\\-/\\-**

 **Me: You can find the gifts in the cover picture. Except for the new gauntlets, the wallet, and the charm. Although the boat is the same model as the one Nami "borrowed" from Buggy's three stooges.**

 **Ryuki: Yup. Anyway, we were supposed to answer this question last chapter, but due to a certain "incident" we could not.**

 **Me: My grand entry T.T**

 **Ryuki: Shut up.**

 **Me: Fineeee. What is it?**

 **Ryuki: This inquiry is from "Aliahra" and is also something I want to know too: When is everyone going to stop mistaking me for a boy?**

 **Me: NEVER. EVER EVER EVER EVER. MUAHAHAHAHA.**

 **Ryuki: Ooook? Why?**

 **Me: It amuses me. And we need a running gag.**

 **Ryuki: … I hate you.**

 **Me: Love you too. X3**


	11. Chapter 10: the First meeting with King

_These are thoughts_

"These are conversations"

And these are story teller

 **Hello my beloved readers. I've decided on releasing one chapter every week, around the weekends, but it may varies depends on how much stuff I have to do. Also, should I use the Japanese name for the moves or not? Anyway, here's chapter 10. Enjoy. PS: I don't even own a copy of One Piece. What make anyone think I would own the original?**

-/\\-/\\-

The thing about travelling alone on a boat, it's really boring most of the time. You're on a boat, in the middle of the ocean with no one to talk to and not of anything to entertain yourself. I ended up training most of the time. When I first train with my new gauntlets, I had to take off the gi in fear of it getting in the way. I also had to figure out how to change the state of the gauntlets, or "unequal" and "equip" as I've taken to call it, without having to reach for the buttons. If my opponents know where those buttons are, they could essentially unarm me.

With a lot of thinking and experimenting, I found out that since my elbows are slightly double jointed, they can bend a little farther then a straight line like normal people. And, if I bend my elbows far enough and strong enough, I can press the buttons without anyone knowing it's there. Plus it actually looked pretty cool. I also found out by accident that if I change the gauntlet's state while wearing long sleeves, they actually will kind off melt through the fabric and tuck the sleeve in. really convenient. It makes me wonder who made the material.

–––––––– Somewhere on an island, a certain scientist sneezed. ––––––––

Another aspect of travelling by yourself, is that it's extremely easy to lose track of time. I had originally planned on going home at soon as the two years minimum requirement was met, but when I finally realized I was late, half a years has already passed. Upon noticing the date, I decided to send my family a letter, saying that I will continue travelling for a little while longer. I want to make a name for myself before I go home.

Little did I know, I already reached my goal. During my time of travel, I've defeated many pirates that were causing troubles, either while they hijack a ship or when they pillage a village. The people I helped told their friends and those friends told their friends about me. As the tales spread, they get really really wild, and I ended up getting called "White-coated vigilante", "Silver-clawed gentleman", and, for some reason, "Traveling Prince".

 _Seriously, what is it with everyone and mistaking me as a boy? I swear, it's like someone from above is having fun at my expense. Although it's always funny when they found out. Maybe I should use it to my advantages? Hmmm decisions, decisions._

Anyway, as those stories and rumors get wilder and wilder, they got to the point where it's impossible to tell that it's me. So, I spent my next two years of life floating across the East Blue. But alas, my peaceful, but lonesome, journey came to an end. I never thought, that when I stepped foot into that one strangely vacant town, my life would be thrown head first into the insanity that would later be known worldwide as the "Straw Hat Pirate".

-/\\-/\\-

My peaceful nap was interrupted by a loud explosion off to the port side. It startled me awake. I rushed out onto the deck and look for the source of the noise. Far in the distance, I noticed, from where the explosion came from, were an island and a plume of black smoke above it.

I suspected that there was a battle going on. Being the good person I was, I set sail to the island, hoping to lend a hand.

There was a second explosion, prompting me to pull out the paddles and speed up even more.

When I finally got to the dock, there was a pirate galleon with a clown skull, the theme of the crew looked to be a circus. There was a small pirate boat with the same flag and a tiny dingy next to it. I got off my boat and survey the area. There was no one around. The whole town seemed deserted.

 _They must have evacuated when the pirate came. Let's see if I can help drive the pirates out._

I started walking toward the center of the village. Then, I stumbled into a scene that I should have recognized faster than I did.

There was a small white dog, whose fur was matted with blood, blocking the way to a pet store. In front of the small canine, was a white lion that possibly were fed growth hormone, a strange man wearing an equally strange hat was riding the lion, and next to them was a white tiger that was as big as the lion.

"Come on ya mutt. Get out of our way." The man said. "Richie is hungry."

The little dog's replied by barking and growling at the three.

"Tch. Stupid mutt. Won't even learn after Michie rough it up." He turned to the tiger, "Michie, this is getting nowhere. Why don't you just go ahead and eat the dog?"

Michie, the tiger, stepped forward, set its body parallel to the ground, wound up its muscles, and got ready to pounce on the poor dog. I, of course, couldn't stand by and watch such thing happening and ran to the dog's aid.

I equipped my gauntlets as I ran. Michie pounced at the pooch, and just as it was about to take a bite out of the little guy, I got in between the two and caught Michie's jaws. With the adrenaline adding fuel to the fire in my veins, I managed a glare that would make Mihawk proud:

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

The tiger reeled back but I got a firm hold on its teeth.

"Wah? Hey, let go of Michie." The man demanded, "I'm Mohji, beast tamer of the Buggy Pirate, if you don't let go this instance I'll kill you." He screamed frustrated.

I responded by keeping my hold on Michie's teeth, twisting my body so that it was slightly behind me, and throw it over my shoulder with all my strength. The tiger were out like a light as soon as its back created the crater on the ground.

"MICHIEEEE"

"GROAAAAA"

Mohji and Richie screamed.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS." Mohji yelled at me, "RICHIE GO. AVENGE MICHIE."

The lion charged at me when Mohji jumped off. Richie swatted at me with his(?) huge right paw. I blocked it with my left arm by squaring up and take the hit. I didn't budge even an inch. Richie looked downright murderous and bared his fangs at me. I moved from my spot, ducked low into Richie's underside, then

"RISING FLAME."

I send Richie flying straight up with an uppercut, basically. I need to figure out some unique moves. I turned my head to Mohji, whose jaw was literally on the ground.

 _Anime physic at work? No matter._

He shrieked when I turned my body and started to walk toward him.

"No no no no. Please, don't kill me. Mercy. Mercy" he wailed.

"With what you guys just did? I don't think so." I scowled.

With head start jump, I spin sideway but vertically and kicked downward, hitting Mohji's head and created yet another crater in the ground. I landed:

"Plus, I've always hated beast tamers."

Then I went to check up on the little pooch. I stopped when I notice the additional three people were not here when I first came. There were an old man, who was wearing a quite impressive looking set of armor for someone his age; a young girl with orange hair, she had a blue striped white shirt and orange skirt, she also looked suspiciously familiar; and a young man with red shirt, blue pants, and the world's most important straw hat

"SO COOOOOLLLLL." The straw hat wearing boy shouted out and ran up to me.

He then ran around me and checked me out. It was very awkward. The other two caught up to him.

"I'm the mayor of this town, named Poodle. Thank you for protecting Chouchou." The old man said and dashed over to check up on the pooch.

"That was very cool of you" Red head girl said.

"Thanks you." I told her, "Would who mind telling me what's going down in this town?"

Red head girl confirmed my assumption that the villagers evacuated when the Buggy Pirates moved in. she also told me Chouchou's story.

"Although. Who are you and what's your name?" she asked.

"Oh. Pardon me. I am Ryuki. Hanabishi Ryuki. Just a passing martial artist." I replied, "And you are?"

"I'm Nami." I introduced.

 _Wait. Nami? "Cat burglar" Nami?_

"And that's Luffy, pirate." She pointed to the straw hat boy.

 _Luffy? As in future pirate king, "Straw Hat" Luffy? HOLY SHIT. I FINALLY REMEMBER. Oh gods, this is Orange Town. Shit, this was where Luffy official met Nami the first time. And, Mohji the beast tamer. That was the scene where Luffy became a badass and prove to Nami he's a good guy. Nooooooo. What the fuck have I done? And wait. Was there a tiger in the original storyline? There was, right? What? Could it be? A deviation from the canon? Oh double shit._

I was jerked out of my internal turmoil when Luffy suddenly shove his face up to mine (I'm taller).

"Hey hey hey. Cool mister." He said.

"What?" I asked

"Join me." I demanded.

"What?" was all I could said,

"Uh huh, uh huh. Join my …"

The mayor cut him off with a growl:

"Grrrr, I'm so useless. Both Chouchou and that kid fought so hard and yet, I, the mayor, was completely powerless to save this town!"

We ran up to him.

"Mr. Mayor! Please calm down." Nami advised him.

"Forty years ago, there was nothing here. We worked together and clear the land, harvested crops, opened stores, and built a community. This town and its people are my treasures! I won't let those fiends violate it any further!" he shouted out.

Suddenly, an unearthly explosion rang out, accompanied with a whole row of houses turning into rubbles. We all shielded ourselves from the force but the Mayor fell down.

"There goes my house." He said.

"AHH. Zoro was sleeping in there!" Luffy realized.

"I wonder if he survived." The mayor said.

"OI. ZORO, ARE YOU ALIVE?" Luffy called out.

From the rubble of what I could only assume as the mayor's house, a voice said:

"Talk about a rude awakening. Ahhh. I'm still tired." The green haired swordsman complained.

Luffy laughed, Nami inquired on how is he not dead, and I could only raise an eyebrow at the fact that there's not even a scratch on him, not counting the hole in his stomach of course.

"This is unforgivable. I've had enough! They have no right to destroy our forty years of hard work!" the mayor said, "I'm the mayor. It's my responsible to protect this town."

We watched on as Nami tried to pull him back.

"H-Hold on. Mr. Mayor." She tried.

"There are fights where a man cannot run from! Isn't that right, kid?" he told Luffy.

Luffy being Luffy answered without holding back:

"It sure is! Old man."

Prompting Nami to scold him:

"Don't encourage him. What good can he possibly do? This is reckless!" she said.

Then the mayor turned to her:

"I'm aware of that!" he declared with tears in his eyes.

His statement froze up Nami. Without her holding him back, he ran off toward the source of the explosion.

"Here I come, Buggy the Clown!"

I watched in respect as the old man went to challenge his enemy.

"He was crying!" Nami commented.

"Really? I didn't notice." Luffy said.

"This is getting pretty intense." Zoro said, excited.

"Shishishishi. Sure is." Luffy laughed.

"This is no laughing matter." Nami told them.

"It's ok. I like that guy. I won't let him die!" Luffy assured her.

"I guess that's an order." Zoro got up and started walking.

"You're going too!?" Nami asked us, incredulous. "You're still injured!"

"The injury to my body is nothing compared to the injury my pride would sustain if I were defeated." Zoro tied the bandana over his head.

"We're headed to the Grand Line! I'm gonna get that map back!" Luffy walked up to Nami, "Be our nakama, Nami." And extend a hand to her.

"I refuse to become a pirate …" then turned her frown to a smile and slap Luffy's hand "but why don't we join forces and help each other out for now?"

Luffy's only response was his trademark, too-wide grin. Knowing Luffy, I'm pretty sure that Nami just basically sign her soul over to him. I had originally not want to interfere with the canon story, but seeing how Michie the tiger exist, I need to know if it was something that my very existence caused or just something Lord Oda left out.

"I'm coming too. Letting the mayor run to his death without lifting a finger seriously contradicts my vows." I made up the excuse.

I never took any vow, but they don't need to know that

"Sure." Luffy said, his grin got even wider if that's even possible.

I have a really bad feeling about that.

-/\\-/\\-

We got to the pub just in time it seemed. The mayor was flying a foot or two off the ground. The only thing holding him up was a severed hand attached to his neck. There was also a clown with a missing hand yapping away on top of the building. We stayed behind as Luffy crushed the hand and pulled it off of the mayor. From the way the clown grunted, Luffy had one hell of a grip.

"It's the straw hat guy!" Buggy, I think, screeched.

"I'm here to kick your ass, just like I promised." Luffy grin at him.

Luffy crushed the hand a little more before letting fly back to its owner. We formed a protective circle around the mayor, Luffy in front, Zoro to his back right, me on the other side and Nami in the back. Something feels off about the arrangement to me.

We ignored Buggy when he started screeched about how great he is. I helped the mayor with his sore throat while Nami told us her ultimate goal.

"You brats, what are you doing here?" the mayor asked after he got over the coughing fit, "You outsiders should mind your own business." And panted heavily.

We watched him silently.

"This is my fight. This is my town, and I will protect it!" he grabbed his spear, "Don't interfere!"

Just as he was about to charge ahead, Luffy, with the most blanked out face possible, slammed grabbed the mayor's head and slammed it into the wall, effectively knocking him out.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Nami screamed at him, "Why did you do that to the mayor?"

"He's in the way." Luffy answered like it completely obvious.

I wanted to face palm so hard. Everyone else was speechless.

"Good idea." Zoro said, "If this old man fights, he'll get himself killed. This way is better."

When Nami still seemed too stunned to even say anything, I felt complied to say something.

"I know it is. But can't you be a little more gentle with him?"

"Shishishishi. I could. But I don't know how to." Luffy said brightly.

I face palmed.

"Next time, please leave it to someone who does."

"Sure. I'll leave that to you."

"What?"

Before I got an answer, Luffy walked back and faced Buggy.

"Here I go." he took a deep breath, "BIG NOSE!" and screamed at the top of his lungs.

Everyone's jaw just drop, their faces turned horrified. Buggy on the other hand, he looked like he was going to pop a vein.

"You're pissing me off, asshole. You dare call me that? Fire the Buggy Bomb now!" he ordered his men.

Both Nami and Zoro ran away. Even though I know Luffy could take the shot, but seeing the cannon, I ran too. It's not cowardice, it's called being rational.

The pirate fired the cannon, but with a shout

"GOMU GOMU NOOOOO BALOON"

Luffy inflated and shot the bomb right back at the Buggy Pirate. The sight of him inflating was absurd, I couldn't keep my jaw in its place. The pirate crew on top of the pub was surprised for a moment, but then they had something worst to worry about, aka, the bomb that's heading their way. The whole pub was taken down in a single explosion. We had to shield ourselves, and all Luffy said was:

"Alright! It hit the enemy."

"What the hell are you?!" Nami screamed at him.

"Don't surprise people like that." Zoro complained

"Devil fruit?" I couldn't help but asked.

"Yup. I'm a rubber man" Luffy answered, stretching his cheek .

"Nice." Was all I said. Nami had a different opinion though.

When the dust settled, Buggy stepped out without a scratch. He had used his own men as shields. Nami were disgusted, and I'm pretty sure we all were. Then from the rubbles popped out Mohji. He looked around and then spotted me.

"AHHH. It's you." He turned to Buggy, "captain Buggy, it that bastard that dares to defies us!"

"Huh. So it was your group all along. And you." He turned to Luffy, "so you're a rubber man, that's how you bounce the Buggy Bomb back."

 _I'm pretty sure that dialogue went different. No matter, looks like the timeline is more resilient than I had feared._

Suddenly, two pile of rubbles exploded from being Mohji.

 _Man, this crew really is flashy in everything they do._

There were a well-cooked Richie and an equally well-cook Michie, shielding two people. The one behind Richie reviewed himself.

"This is our biggest humiliation ever, captain." He said

"Oh. Cabaji." Buggy called.

"It definitely is, isn't it captain?" the person from behind Michie stepped out too.

"And Shaji, too." He told them, "I can't suppress my anger anymore."

Mohji suddenly cut in, screaming about the abuse that his partners had to endure. When the two dumped the animals and called them on the ground, Mohji got enraged and tried to attack Cabaji. He ended up being kicked toward us, where Luffy promptly kicked him into a wall.

"Captain Buggy. Let us take care of this." He offered.

"Good, show them your acrobatics and contortions"

"I'll go first." Cabaji declared.

He then jumped over Buggy, landed on a unicycle and charge toward us:

"The chief of staff, Cabaji the acrobat! Captain Buggy's rage has been transferred to me!"

Just as his sword were about to pierced Luffy, Zoro block him.

"Since you're using a sword, I'll be your opponent." He said.

"That seems fair, Roronoa Zoro. To fight you as a swordsman."

What happened next cannot be called a fight. It was only trickery followed by a righteous beat down. Cabaji, the bastard, kept using tricks and kicking Zoro's wound. After a while, Zoro got fed up and let himself got cut. I had to admired his willpower, but not so much his stupidity. Maybe it was the difference in our path? Anyhow, Nami got tired of the fight and left for the treasures.

Cabaji threw spinning tops at Zoro, distracting him, then climbed up the side of the building and launched himself above Zoro. While Zoro was focusing on Cabaji, Buggy launched his hand at Zoro, intending to hold him down.

Sadly for them, Luffy came to the rescue. He stomped on the hand like a boss, allowing Zoro to jump out of the way. After a couple of minutes panting on the ground, Zoro stood up. They had a final show down. And like a badass that he is, took down Cabaji with one iconic move "Devil Slices"

In his final waking moment, Cabaji regrettably said:

"The Buggy crew was defeated by a band of thieves?!"

"Not thieves. Pirates!" Zoro answered before falling down, "Luffy, I'm going to sleep."

"Ah. We'll take care of the rest." Luffy assured him.

"Yeah. Good night." I said.

And we prepared for our coming battles.

-/\\-/\\-

 **Me: First, a thank you and an apology to one "her wife", thank you for pointing out the "coding" problem, and sorry for not mentioning you earlier. But you review pop up 3 days late for some reason. Q & A time!**

 **Ryuki: Alright. From "Aliahra", will I be the next "Avatar"?**

 **Me: A True Master? One day. But you'll never be the Avatar, you're not OP enough for that. You will have something else that'll look like the Avatar state though, if I really think about it. But, it's actually something I will add in the story later on. So, I'm afraid you'll have to wait and find out.**

 **Ryuki: Next, there's a question from one "chibi-no-baka" about whether I'm going to grow boobs so others know I'm girl.**

 **Me: Uh huh.**

 **Ryuki: Even though I'm 22 now, but giving the average female body of the One Piece world, it's…it's going come out right? It will right? Right?**

 **Me: … Hang in there Ryuki. On another note, I've answered the question in the last chapter on whether Ryuki will stop being mistaken as a boy. Well, until something drastic comes up, the answer is still: NEVER. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAhaha hah?**

 ***Ryuki stood up suddenly, eyes ablazed***

 **Me: Um, Ryuki? What are yo…**

 **Ryuki: ROARRRRRRRR**

 **Me: GYAAAAAAAAA**


	12. Chapter 11: to Join a Legend

_These are thoughts_

"These are conversations"

And these are story teller

 **Hello my beloved readers. Here's chapter 11. I'm going to put up an early poll for Ryuki's epithet next chapter. Anyone who has a suggestion can either review or mail me. Enjoy. PS: Do I still have to say I don't own One Piece?**

-/\\-/\\-

With his two officers knocked out, Buggy looked like he was about to burst a vein. His face turned the same color as his nose. He was starting to remind me of Joker from Batman, except less deranged looking. He would have charged us too if Shaji didn't speak up:

"Please don't get too mad captain. You still have me." She said, pressing her body against Buggy, "Cabaji took down the Pirate Hunter, the other two shouldn't be too hard."

She spun around Buggy and toward us. When she finally snapped to a stop, a thin and long object were heading straight for us. It didn't take me too long to realize that she's a whip user.

 _Looks like I don't really need to help them at all. Luffy can take her down easily. Wait a sec._

I hastily grab Luffy and pulled him back, just in time too, as the whip passed right where his head was moments ago. The whip travelled past us, slam into the houses, and left a thin but ridiculously deep cut. There were thin blades woven into that rope if the metallic glint coming from it was any indication.

"Luffy, can you deal with sharp objects?" I ask him.

"Nope" he answered with no hesitation.

"…You do know that the whip can carve you up like a turkey right?" I asked.

"Yup" still no hesitation.

"…So, why didn't you dodge?" I asked him again.

"'Cause I know you'd help." He answered with a bright grin.

"…I'll deal with her." I signed.

I stepped out in front of Luffy, ready to confront Shaji. She looked at us, one hand holding her whip, the other on her cheek seductively:

"How sweet, trying to buy your friends some time?" she licked her lips, "I like sweet, handsome, boys like you."

Now, I have nothing against anyone in the LGBTQIA community, but the way her eyes travelled all over my body was very uncomfortable. There were a lot of "run" signals being sent to my brain.

"Surrender now, boy. I promise I'll ask captain to spare you." She told me, "After that, I'll take realllllly good care of you." She purred.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to decline." She replied to her with the best straight face I had.

"Very well. I'll just have to make you mine, physically."

She attacked me. The whip was very fast, accurate, and deadly. I could not count how many times she could have cut off one of my limb.

Sadly for Shaji, I was a bit out of her league. For a normal person, she would have won since the first move, but when you trained enough to see a bullet coming at you? This is pretty much child's play.

I kept dodging her attacks for a little bit longer, waiting for her to do something interesting. Sadly, she didn't show any new skills.

"You have very elegant style, fitting for someone like you." I comment to Shaji, "There are, however, many problems that you still need to fix."

"First off, it's a little slow still." I started to move toward her as I dodge the whip.

"Second, you need to account for people that fight with weapons." I caught whip and yanked her to me.

"Third, learn to let go." I caught her flailing body.

"Any finally, close combat." and knocked her out via a solid headbutt to her forehead.

I laid Shaji down gently and snuck a look at the two captains. Luffy was grinning with stars in his eyes like he just hit a jackpot. Buggy, on other hand, looked like he wanted to eat our hearts.

"Luffy, I'll go check up on your friend. You deal with him, ok?" I told Luffy.

"Sure." He answered with his trade mark grin.

I head off to check up on Zoro.

 _Damn, he lost a lot of blood. With this amount, I really need bandage him up. Can't have the pirate king losing his first mate now can I?_

I blocked out the conversation going on behind me in favor of focusing on Zoro's wound. When I was finally done, I turned around to check up on the fight. What I saw was not something anyone should ever repeat.

Buggy had skewered Luffy's straw hat and was yapping about how gold and jewels are the only treasures in the world. When he found out that the hat belong to Shank, he stomped on it.

With the way Luffy gritted his teeth and charged at Buggy, I'd say he's beyond furious by now. So, being the sensible person that I was, I moved Zoro to the side of the building, away from the fight. When I was done, Luffy was making Buggy spit out the history between him and Shank. It looked kind of weird and funny, the way Luffy was sitting on Buggy.

After Luffy got off of him, Buggy told us the story of how he got his devil fruit power and how he could never ever forgive Shank. Then when he finished, he split his body in half and float up really high.

"Anyone who touches my treasures, no matter who they are, I won't let them live!" he declared and shot off toward Nami, "MY TREASURES! UNHAND THEM!"

 _SHIT._ "NAMI, RUN!" I shouted to her.

Acting on instinct, I shit up from where I was sitting next to Zoro, fully intended to help Nami. However, Luffy got there first. Well, not technically, since he didn't get to where the two was. Instead, he just stayed where he was, next to Buggy's grounded lower half. He did, however, stopped Buggy from slicing Nami into tiny little bits, by kicking Buggy in the nuts.

All I could really do was cringe for Buggy's sake. I pity him. I really do.

"Your opponent is me." Luffy said like he didn't just kick someone where he shouldn't have.

"Hey." He addressed Nami, "Leave the treasure and run, or they'll come after you again."

"No! Leave the treasure you say? Definitely not!, she rejected, "Why should throw away my treasure?"

That prompted Buggy to ask her: "Those are your treasure?"

"Of course it is. I'm a thief that steals from pirates. Now that I've stolen form one, of course the treasures are now all mine!" she declared.

"Ohh…I see." Luffy slammed his fist into his palm.

I just laugh. I think I burst a gut though.

"BULLSHIT! THOSE ARE MY TREASURE!" Buggy screamed at her, "You think that it's yours just because you stole it? Tch. What kind of education did you get?"

"A crook lecturing another crook is ridiculous!" Nami laughed at him.

Buggy had finally reached his limit.

"You better prepare yourself, Nami!" He warned, "Bara Baraa FESTIVALLLL."

He body split into many little pieces and went after Nami. When the situation looked dire for Nami, I notice Luffy grabbed something and sat down. It was a foot. Buggy's foot to be exact. Luffy then proceed to pull his foot out of his shoe and tickled it, pulled it, and slammed it in the ground.

With how Buggy persisted in chasing after Nami even though he was making such weird faces, which in turn freaked out Nami, I just couldn't help but laugh. And then I decided to join in for a bit. Mainly, I just stomp on his other feet.

"STOP THAT." He shouted at us.

Taking her chance when he was distracted, Nami tried to smack him with the treasure bag. Keyword: tried. Buggy blocked and grabbed the bag. They began a tug-of-war over the treasures.

Just as Buggy was about to stab Nami, Luffy literally came to her rescue.

"Didn't I tell you that I'm your opponent?" He yelled and kicked Buggy into the pavement.

The trench he left behind was pretty impressive. Although, _does he have to be that destructive?_

I walked up to them as Nami thank the rubber boy. Just when they remembered about the map, we all noticed Buggy floating with a menacing aura surrounding him.

"It's not over yet, rubber man." He said.

"Geh He's still alive!" Luffy said.

"Shut up! How dare you inflict so much pain upon me!?" He snarled, "I won't forget this!"

Luffy prepared to fight the clown, Nami ran away, and I stepped back. It's not my fight.

"REASSEMBLE!" Buggy shouted. "BARA BARA PARTS!"

He became a tiny little man with only two feet, two hands, and a head.

So about a minute, there was only silence.

"Are you looking for this?" Nami asked.

"GYAAA. MY PARTSS!" Buggy exclaimed.

Luffy and I burst out laughing.

"No wonder you're a thief." Luffy said, stretching his arms back. "Hey Buggy. GOMU GOMU NOOOOO BAZOOKAAAA!"

And Buggy flew off like a certain team called Rocket.

"I won!" and Luffy kept laughing.

 _I wonder if I can take the Bazooka head on. Hmmm. Curiosity, curiosity._

Then I get to witness the one of my favorite moments in One Piece, a genuine LuffyxNami moment! Although it's just my wishful thinking. Luffy is simply too dense for that.

Luffy went to wake Zoro up. Due to how much blood he had already lost, it didn't seem like he's going to be able to move anytime soon. After that, we went to wake the mayor up. However, we were interrupted by the townspeople.

 _Ah. They're here already? Shit, I've forgotten too many details._

When the mob found the mayor knocked out on the ground, they immediately went to help him. They asked us if we know who did that to him. Luffy, the moron that he was, told them the truth with no hesitation. That, of course, set the mob on edge. They asked if we were connected to the pirates, Luffy gave them an answer I did not expect:

"The four of us are pirates." He said.

Zoro was laughing, Nami was steaming, and I could only gape at him.

 _Four? Did he just count me too? He honestly thought I was a pirate? Does he think everyone he met is a pirate? (I know, I know, denials)_

Ignoring my thought for a moment, I focused on joining the Straw Hats in running away from the angry mob. Within my four years of travelling, I've never ran away from the town folks before. This was definitely a new experience.

Suddenly, Luffy said to turn the corner at the last second. Both Nami and I nearly missed the turn, but we made it. Halfway through the alley, we had to jump over a very peculiar obstacle. Namely, a small white pooch that goes by the name Chouchou. As soon as we passed, Chouchou started barking viciously, blocking the mob's advance.

When the dock was finally in sight, I knew that I had to say good bye Luffy and co.

"Hey guys. It has been fun, but it looks like it's time for us to part." I told them, " Hope we'll see each other again someday."

As soon as we hit the dock, they took a left and I took the right. I had docked my boat on the other side of Buggy's ship. Not wanting to waste a single moment, I sprinted off before they could reply to me. (stupid, I know)

I made it my small boat, untie it, climb in, and set sail once again. After a while, the adrenaline finally wore off. I sat down and leaned back into the cabin wall, thinking about my next path.

 _I met Luffy. I MET LUFFY! SHIT. BREATH, GIRL, BREATH. DO NOT HAVE A FAN GIRL ATTACK. DO NOT. Hahhhhh fuuuuuuuu hahhhhhhhhhh fuuuuuuuuuuu. Phew, now that's much better. Still, I just met the Straw Hat! That's one thing off of my bucket list. Now, what to do? Where to go? East? Or maybe North? Hmmm. Or…maybe…flow with the wave? Hmmmm._

I was pulled out of my small la la land when a hand suddenly grabbed the side of my boat.

"What the…" I didn't finish the question.

My boat jerked and shot off to the left with ungodly speed. When it finally stops, I was clinging to the rail for my dear life and completely drenched from head to toe.

"Moron, you don't just pull people's boat toward you like that." A familiar voice said.

"Shishishishi, sorry, but I couldn't help it." Another dreadfully familiar voice.

I looked up, and sure enough, there he was, the moron that will one day fine Raftel. My facial muscles were twitching like never before. It took me sometime, but I managed to calm my runaway heart and definitely shot nerves. I stood up:

"Hello again." She said, my face still twitching.

"Who are you? Zoro cut in, then turn to his friends, "Who is this?"

 _Oh. He was asleep when we introduced ourselves._

"That's Ryuki. He's a really cool Marital Artist." Luffy answered.

"Martial Artist. Martial not Marital." I had to correct him, I just had to.

"Ohhhhh. Ryuki huh? That's a good name. I'm Zoro. Good to meet you." Zoro told me.

"Like wise." I replied, "Although it is nice to see you guys again, I must ask. Do you need something from me?"

"Uh huh, uh huh." Luffy said excitedly.

Zoro was smirking, Nami was smiling, Luffy was grinning, and I did not like where the situation was going.

"Join my crew." Luffy told me, plain and simple.

"What?" I said for the hundredth times today.

"Be my nakama." Luffy told me again.

"What?" I repeated.

A few minutes was spent for me to look completely dumbfounded.

"Wait wait wait, you want ME to join your crew?" I asked him.

"Yup." He answered.

"Wha…Why me? Why do you want me to join you? We only know each other for an hour or two!" I inquired.

"Cause you're a cool guy!" No hesitation.

"That's it?! Seriously?" I deadpanned.

"Yup."

"Nope. No way." I denied, "Sorry but I'm going to decline."

I turned around and sprung open the sail, fully intended to leave. I had to pause as Luffy still have his grip on my rail.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I'm holding onto your boat." he said like it's the most natural thing in the world.

"Why?"

"So I can make sure you will join me."

"You're going to follow and pester me until I join you, aren't you." I deadpan at him.

"Yup." No shame.

"GRGGGG"

I persisted for half a day. Apparently, when Luffy want something, he can be even more patient than a monk. All the time we traveled together, he really did not let go of my rail. He also asked me to join him about five times a minute. And also, I swear to gods, whoever taught him the puppy eyes need some serious punishments.

––––––– Somewhere, a certain revolutionary officer tripped over banana peels. –––––––

"ARGGGGG FINEEEEEEEEE." I screamed at the sky.

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSS" Luffy joined me.

"Finally. They stopped." Zoro and Nami moaned.

We ignored them.

"Shishishishi. You finally agreed to join me." Luffy told me with a bright grin. "Now you need a position."

"I can't believe you just out-stubborned me!" I told him.

"Can you play music?" he asked.

"That's the first thing you think of? Nope." I answered.

"Uhhh. Can you cook?"

"Nope."

"Shoot things?"

"Nope."

"Uhhhhh, dance."

"Why? And nope."

"Uhhhhhh. Ummmmmmmmm"

I decided to throw him a stick.

"How about a quarter master? I basically take care of the ship and the crew. How about that?

"That's perfect." He beamed. "Yoshaaa. Now we have a quarte mathingy."

"Oi."

They all laughed at that. I just signed. _What did I get myself into? At least it won't be boring from now on._

-/\\-/\\-

 **Ryuki: Q &A!**

 **Me: YAYYYY!**

 **Ryuki: Alright. From our most faithful fan, "Ahliara": "I have to ask but am I reviewing too much?** **"**

 **Me: The answer is NOPE.**

 **Ryuki: definitely not. You're feeding to her fetish after all.**

 **Me: IT IS NOT A FETISH.**

 **Ryuki: Says the one rereading the review five times a day.**

 **Me: SHUT UP. WE ARE MOVING ON.**

 **Ryuki: Kahaha, fine. Next up we have a question from "Kristina". She wants to know if this story will be a Yuri one.…**

 **Me:…**

 **Ryuki: Is it?**

 **Me: Weeeellllllllll no. I'm actually not planning on any serious romance for the foreseeable future. Not for you or for any of the main crew anyway. Although, you will have obsessive fan girls that do know your true gender, they just don't care.**

 **Ryuki: Ahhh fuck. There goes that plan.**

 **Me: LOL. You will not escape for GAGFATE.**

 **Ryuki: I did tell you I hate you right?**

 **Me: Yup. Oh, and to "TriggerHappy-ism," I had originally planned on killing off the village, but that would be too much drama. So, all I can tell you, is that drama will come. Much later, but it will.**


	13. Chapter 12: the Boy who cries Pirates

**CHANGES**

"These are conversations"

And these are Ryuki's narration

 **Hello my beloved readers. I LIVE. Anyway, remember to vote. PS: I only own Ryuki's ass.**

 **Shout out to Aliahra and UmbraAurumDragon for being my Beta and backup Beta, respectively. Also, their stories are really good. So check them out everyone.**

-/\\-/\\-

"There's no way we can get to the Grand Line in our condition." Nami suddenly said.

We all turned to look at her. Then Luffy replied.

"That's right, I still prefer to eat some meat." He swallowed his apple, "All we ever eat is fruit."

"Luffy, don't swallow seeds. At least chew them first." I said, "Although, I do want to stock up some more jerky."

"Uh huh. Some sake would be nice, too." Zoro chimed in.

As soon as he finished his sentence, Nami threw an apple at Zoro's face. The apple hit its mark and bounced off, only to be caught by Luffy.

"What are you guys talking about?" Nami reprimanded us angrily, "I'm not talking about that! I'm saying the Grand Line is the most dangerous place in the world. There will be lots of pirates there looking for the One Piece, and they will definitely have powerful ships."

"Then just make them our friends!" Luffy answered like it was that obvious.

"Not only do we lack manpower, but our ship is clearly not equipped." Nami ignored him, "There's no way we can make it there safely."

"Looks like we still need a chef," he ignored her too, "and a musician."

"Musician? Dahahahaha." Zoro laughed.

"Kahahahahaha. Musician he said. Kahahahaha." I joined in.

"Are you stupid?" Nami asked quietly.

We laughed for a little bit more. Then Nami informed us that we're near an inhabited island, and we could get a boat there.

"Ahh. Time to get some meat!" Luffy shouted excitedly.

"Don't forget the sake!" Zoro said.

"And jerky!" I added.

"YOU GUYS!" Nami screamed at us.

-/\\-/\\-

After a few hours after our conversation, we finally reached land.

"Naaahhhhhhhh. It's been awhile since I've been on land." Zoro stretched.

"Wee. Whoa." Luffy looked around excitedly, "So the village is further down that way?"

"Uhm. Although it's a small village..." Nami trailed off.

"OH, in that case," Luffy got even more excited, "Meat, meat, meat, meat, meat, meat! There should be some food in that village, right?"

"Can you not think about eating meat all the time?" Nami asked irritably.

"Luffy, chill. Don't get too excited." I tried to rein him in.

Suddenly, Zoro sheath his sword:

"Careful. There's someone here." He said darkly.

I equipped myself, Nami looked surprised, and Luffy frantically tried to find the person. Zoro turned around abruptly:

"WATCH OUT!"

There were many small pellets shot at Luffy's feet. Luffy kept dodging the projectiles, which made him look like he was dancing.

The bushes above us rustled. Twenty or more pirate flags shot out from them, three at a time. They had a skull that reminded me of the one supposedly famous painting in the last world. "The Scream" was its name, I think.

Zoro and I were on high alert for any danger (Nami hid long ago) while Luffy was in awe.

A boy popped out of the bushes on top of the cliff. He wore a brown overall, and a light brown bag hanging from his shoulder, He has curly black hair and a really long nose.

"Muahahahaha. I am the leader of the great pirate crew that has conquered this village, Usopp!" He claimed, "Everyone praises me and addresses me as Captain Usopp!"

I relaxed a little bit at his introduction, but I tried to not show it.

"If you're thinking of attacking this village, you should just save your strength." He continued, "Otherwise, my 80 million men will crush you like little bugs!"

"INCREDIBLE!" Luffy screamed.

Is it bad that such idiocy doesn't surprise me anymore?

"It's a lie." Nami signed.

"Gah. She saw through it." Usopp freaked out.

"See, he said I saw through it." Nami pointed out.

Usopp started to wiggle in his spot.

"You saw through it, this is bad." He cried.

"What? He was lying?!" Luffy asked.

"Of course. Where would his "80 million" men even be on this tiny island?" I said.

"DAMN YOU." Usopp shouted, "80 million might be an exaggeration, but I have many strong and powerful companions!"

A small group of flags on one the other cliff moved up and down, creating a delusion that many people were there.

"All 3 of them?" Nami smirked.

"GYAAHHHHH. SHE FOUND OUT!" The 3 children screamed, "RU...RUNNNN!"

"Uwah. Hey, you guys! Don't run!" Usopp desperately called after their retreating backs.

I walked to where Luffy was and picked up one of the projectiles from earlier.

"Pachinko. Interesting choice of weaponry for a pirate." I commented.

"Hahahahaha. You're quite an interesting fellow. Hahahahaha." Luffy laughed.

"HEY YOU! DON'T LAUGH AT ME! I'm a man of great pride." He pulled out a slingshot and aimed it at us, "Because of my great pride, everyone calls me…USOPP, THE PROUD!"

I noticed Luffy touched his hat as if remembering something.

"As you saw earlier, my skill with the pachinko is better than a pistol!" He boasted.

"Since you mentioned pistols…" Luffy interrupted him, "bet your life on it."

Usopp was speechless.

"It's not a tool to scare people." Luffy finished.

Catching on to the mood, Zoro smirked and draw his sword.

"The man standing in front of you…" He started.

I dropped the pachinko and cracked my knuckles.

"…is a real pirate." I ended.

We proceed to have a stare down, which means only Zoro and Usopp were staring at each other. I followed my captain's stead and simply looked at the shaking and sweating boy.

After a few seconds, Usopp dropped to his knees:

"As I thought, a true pirate's speech is much more intimidating. Incredible."

We looked at each other, smirked, and started laughing.

"I just repeated what someone said." Luffy told him, "The pirate I deeply respect, Shanks."

"Eh?" Usopp said, "Sha…Shanks you say?! The red haired Shanks, you know that great pirate?!"

"Yeah." Luffy answered, "Yasopp, isn't it? Your father's name."

Usopp was definitely surprised by Luffy's revelation. He did fall off the cliff after all.

"It's true that Yasopp is my dad's name…" He sat up, "But how do you know this?"

And that was our cue.

-/\\-/\\-

We found ourselves sitting in a restaurant called Meshi (Food), a very creative name.

I focused on the food while Luffy told Usopp about his father. It was quite an interesting tale. Especially when you can see Usopp's reaction. He looked like a five-year-old in a candy store.

We had a great time together and Usopp was very willing to help us. Although, he was reluctant to tell us about that mansion on the top of the hill. He got angry and escaped from us with the classic "I just remembered that I still have something to do" excuse.

Before Usopp left, he told us that we can order anything we like. That prompted Luffy to order everything on the menu, 10 plates of each.

When we, just Luffy to be exact, finished all the food, a group of three children burst in through the front door.

"The Usopp Pirate crew is here!" They shouted in unison.

We all turned to look. It was the three kids back at the cliff. They all had wooden swords in their hands. Judging by how the restaurant owner gave them one look and ignored them, this is a pretty common scene. Not for us, though.

"What's going on?" Nami inquired.

"Oh hey, it's the kids." I pointed out.

The kids obvious were more occupied with something else.

"The captain is not here." One of them, Ninjin, I think, stated.

"Don't tell me…" Tamanegi (?) said.

Them they ran to our table. The kid who seemed to be the leader of the group, Piiman probably, lead their charge.

"Hey, you pirates, what have you done with Captain Usopp?" He demanded.

"What have you done?" the other two parroted.

Luffy chose that moment to finish his drink.

"Uheeehhh. That was some good meat!" he patted his stomach.

That freaked the kids out. We immediately caught on to what they were thinking. Nami giggled, I smirked.

"Meat!?" Ninjin sputtered out.

"Don't tell me…" Tamanegi said.

"Uh huh. It was very good meat." I teased.

"Wha…what have you do...done?" Piiman stuttered

"Your captain was…"Zoro grinned demonically, "EATEN!"

"AHHHHHHHH. ONIBABA!" The three screamed and looked at Nami.

"WHY ARE YOU LOOK AT ME?!" Nami screamed right back.

We all laugh at that.

"It's all because you guys are being stupid!" Nami scolded us.

After we stopped laughing, Nami cleared up the little misunderstanding that we were messing around with. The kids agreed to lead us to meet the mansion's owner.

I had a different plan, though. I can't remember whether we will get a ship or not, so I decided to just go ahead and prepare some food. Besides, I don't feel like meeting a certain cat, yet.

"You guys go ahead. I'm going to pick up food and water in advance. Gods know those two would forget to bring food with them."

"True, you go do that." Nami approved.

I asked the kids to point me to the market and left.

-/\\-/\\-

Honestly, I didn't know what I was expecting. The "market" turned out to be three small shops next to each other: a grocery store, a clothing store, and a wood shop.

I decided to head straight to the grocery store. As expected, there wasn't a lot of food in the store. Even if I bought out the whole place, it would only last the four of us two weeks at most. And that's not counting Luffy. The only good thing was that they have a whole section of jerky.

I settled with cleaning out the store. Might as well, right? I think the store owner just got a heart attack when I asked him. Oops.

After packing and paying for everything, I went to the biggest road on the island and head for the mansion.

On my way there, I saw something really odd. In the middle of the road, there was a man with a really long Beard. He also wore a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses. The weirdest part was that he was doing the "moonwalk".

What the…? Who's this weirdo? He looks familiar. Hum? Ooooh. That's an interesting thing he's doing. He looks like he walking forward, but he's moving backward instead. Cool. I wonder if he'll show me how.

"Hey. My name is Ryuki. Who are you?" I asked him.

"Hum? Why hello there. I would be Jango, the hypnotist." He replied.

"Hypnotist? That's cool." I said.

"Thank you. Your strength is also very cool." He said.

Oh, right. I packed all the food into the house-size backpack I was wearing.

"Thanks. Hey, that's a cool move you have there." I jumped up onto the main point, "Any chance you would be willing to teach me?"

"Well. I am a bit busy at the moment." He said regrettably," But, for a fan, I can afford a minute or two."

"Sweet."

He told me the tricks and tips while we walk. It's actually a lot easier than it looks. Our impromptu lesson was interrupted when we heard a kid screamed.

That sounded like Tamanegi. What's he doing here? And boy does that kid have a good pair of lungs. He's LOUD. Also, did he just screamed two weirdoes?

I turned around to walk normally while Jango kept up the moonwalk.

We soon reached a group of familiar. Jango walked in front of them:

"Hey, who was it? Who's the guy who called me weird?" Jango scowled, "I am NOT weird."

"Looks like a weirdo to me." Nami replied after a beat of silence.

"Ptfff. Hey guys." I nearly laugh.

"Hey." Zoro waved to me. "You got any alcohol in there?"

"Sake." I answered and threw him a bottle.

I moved over to where he was, put down my luggage, and sat down to enjoy the show.

"That's ridiculous." Jango countered Nami, "I'm just a hypnotist passing by."

"With a cool move." I chimed in.

Everyone, except Jango, gave me a look.

"What? It is cool." I defended, "He looked like he's stepping forward but he moves backward. That is cool."

They're still giving me that look.

"You know what? Never mind." Nami resigned.

"Hey hey hey. You said you're a hypnotist right?" Tamanegi asked.

"Can you demonstrate something?" Piiman continued.

"Yeah. Show us something!" Ninjin finished.

Jango turned menacingly:

"What? You must be joking!" he growled, "Why should I show my hypnotic skills to a bunch of strangers whom I just met?"

"Listen now, just stare into this ring." He changed his tone completely.

"He still does it." Zoro deadpanned.

I have to admit that I am quite curious. After all, I can't recall ever meeting a hypnotist before. So, I followed Jango's instruction and paid close attention.

"After I say: "One. Two. Jango", you will fall asleep." He told us, "Got it? Here I go."

"One!" He started counting.

I kept my eyes on the ring as it sways back and forth.

"Two!"

Uhm. What's this weird feeling? I can't look away!

"Jango!"

And I knew no more.

-/\\-/\\-

 **Ryuki: I how this is long overdue, but it's Q &A time.**

 **Me: Yay!**

 **Ryuki: From the ever faithful "Aliahra": "How stubborn is she anyway? And where did that 'dance' option come from?"**

 **Me: Ok, Ryuki is stubborn as a rock. She can stand listening to Luffy's begging for 12 hours with the interval of 5 questions per minute plus the puppy eyes. She reached this level of stubbornness solely from meditation and willpower if anyone wants to know.**

 **Ryuki: As for the dance option, neither of us knows where it came from. It's Luffy's head for gods' sake. It's not something anyone besides Lord Oda would ever understand.**

 **Me: Yup. For all we know, it could be completely random, or he's plotting something.**

 **Ryuki: Next, we have a triple of review from Draco Oblivion.**

 **Me: Nice. Well, there aren't any questions, though. Oh well, thank you for the suggestions. I will try to look for a Beta and proofread my writing to my best ability.**

 **Ryuki: She means there will be plenty more mistakes until she can figure out how to actually do well in a literature of any kind.**

 **Me: HEY. No bad mouthing your creator.**

 **Ryuki: Make me.**

 **Aliahra: Hahaha. The two of you are always funny. As your Beta I'll try to fix all the mistakes you make so there should be less.**

 **Me: Grgggggggg. Before we leave, there's a bad new. I won't be able to update for a while, it's exam season. Sorry guys. Well, that's all. Good day everyone.**


	14. Chapter 13: Turning the Truth into a Lie

"These are conversations"

And these are Ryuki's narrations

 **Hello my beloved readers. Here's a new chapter for you all. PS: This is on a web page called FanFiction for a reason.**

-/\\-/\\-

I drifted in the darkness for some time. It was calm, peaceful, nostalgic, but also lonely. I didn't know what to do. I've already tried shouting, thrashing and running but I'm still stuck in the dark. _If this keeps up, I might actually go nuts._

Fortunately, or unfortunately, my time in the dark was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"We've meet again, child."

The place I was in lit up and reshaped itself. I was now standing in the middle of the most beautiful field anyone could ever imagine. There were flowers of all shapes and sizes, covering farther than the eye could see.

Far behind me, I can see mountains surrounding and shielding the field. They were hard to see, but I can tell that those mountains have very steep slopes, almost like walls. The tips of the mountains are barely touching the clouds. Where the field and mountains almost meet, there were strange colors like purple and black.

In front of me was a river. It cuts across the field and separated it into two. The river was very wide. So wide that it completely screwed up my depth perception.

I really wanted to run around and explore. However, the figure standing between me and the river kept me in place.

It wore an oversized black cloak that covers everything except its face. It floats on top of the flowers with its bottom billowing out black smoke. Its face was blurry, like smoke. The only thing that I could clearly see was that too wide grin it had.

"It has been quite an entertaining little journey that you've had. I am very amused." It spoke in a low, breathy, and dangerous voice.

"You think so?" I replied with a chill on my spine.

"Yes. Especially when you figured out what happened to you." Its grin got a little wider.

"I'm glad you're having fun. Do you mind telling me where and what this place is?"

"Oh? You still haven't figured that out?" It asked, "Let me give you a hint: this is the road to where you truly belong."

 _Where I truly belong? Where the fuck is that? Urgggg. Let see. I'm not from this world. I was reincarnated, I died… I died… Oh hell no._

"He he he. Don't worry, child. You're fine. For now."

"Well, that's reassuring." I said sarcastically, "Why am I here, though?

"Hum? Because I want to meet you, of course." It said cheerfully.

"Why?" I inquired

"Why not? You are, after all, the most interesting human I have met for a long time. Why, you've even figured out who I am, haven't you?" It grinned.

"Of course I did. To be able to control my death, choose where I ended up, and bring me here, at the bank of the Sanzu River of all places, there's only one entity that fits the bill. You. Death." I pointed out.

"Bravo. Bravo. Excellent deduction." The newly revealed Death clapped, "But, you still haven't figured out why I chose you."

"Will you tell me why?" I asked.

"He he he. So direct. I like that." Death said.

Death floated higher and started to circle around me, creating a ring of black smoke.

"Did you know that you're not the only one who I have made an offer to? I gave so many mortals a chance to survive, they all took it, no questions asked. It gets a bit boring sometimes. You, however, were the first in a very long time to refuse and ask for something else. It was very interesting." Death stopped right behind me.

I jumped a bit. Ok, maybe a lot.

"So, I took your soul with me. And with some consideration, I decided to make you into something everyone else has but I don't: my chosen one. In short, you are my champion." Death declared.

"What?" My eye twitched, "wait wait wait wait. Did you just basically declare me as the Champion of Death?"

"Yup." It answered cheerfully.

…

…

…

…

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" I screamed, "CHAMPION OF DEATH?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! WHAT THE ACTUALLY LIVING SHIT IS THIS?! ARGGGGG. THIS IS NOT A GOD DAMNED FANF-UHMMM."

"Shhhhhhh. Don't say the f-word." Death cut me off with its smoky hand? Sleeve? "And calm down."

"Ummm. Ummm umm umm." I tried.

"Yeah yeah. You're angry, I know." Death said nonchalantly, "But don't worry, you don't really have to do anything."

"Umm?"

"Meh, it's not like I want you to carry out some kind of will. I simply want some entertainment."

"Um um."

"Hey. I'm serious. If I wanted you to bring the world to my knees, I would have given you much more power."

"Um?

"You can see ghosts, remember?"

"Uuummm. Umm um?"

"Alright fine. But don't freak out again."

I sucked in a breath of fresh air after it finally let me go. Death smells like ash.

"Tch. Fine. What do you want with me specifically?" I asked it.

"He he he. I want you to entertain me." It grinned, "You might have noticed, but there are many deviations, as you called them, in the timeline that you live in. I created a different world for you to play in."

"Seriously?" My eye twitched, again.

"Uh huh. It's so that you don't mess up the original one." Death explained.

"So, it's an alternate universe?" I questioned.

"Yup! Your job is to live and entertain me. Simple, right?"

"What's the catch?" I deadpanned.

"He he he. Perceptive. You'll need that. The catch is that the Straw Hats must not die. I am very fond of them." It said.

"You don't have to tell me that." I scoff, "I've been trying to do just that."

"I know. Now, I have good news for you, I didn't just give you the ability to see ghosts. As you have already found out, you can have them possess you. That is only a part of the power I gave you. Now, I won't tell you everything. Where's the fun in that? But I do suggest meditation, though, to let you know yourself better."

"Roger that. Now, what's the bad news?" I asked.

"Well, just like everything else, nothing besides your 'knowledge' will remain of this meeting." Death answered with a grin, "Now wakey wakey, rise and shiny."

"What do you…?"

I was cut off as Death's smoke wash over me.

-/\\-/\\-

"Bwah!" I jumped up from my sleeping position.

 _What the fuck just happened? Did I have a dream? That's weird, I can't remember anything._

"Oh hey, you're finally awake." Zoro said off to my right.

"Ah. What happened?" I asked, brushing my odd feelings off.

"You fell asleep like an idiot." Nami answered.

"That's mean. Nami's mean." I fake whined.

Nami smacked me upside the head, "You moron. We thought you were dead!"

 _Ah. I have a feeling I was nearly there, though._

"Ow. Sorry." I repented, "So, where's Jango?"

"He left a while ago." Zoro piped up.

I listened to the three kids' report and description of the situation. I really don't like this Klahadore guy. Something about his name annoys me. We decided to stay put and wait for our captains.

After a while, the kids started to get restless.

"The captain sure is late." Piiman said.

"Luffy's too." Zoro scowled.

"Maybe the shock was too much?" Tamanegi questioned.

"Whenever he gets upset, he always heads for the coast and stares at the ocean." Ninjin explained.

"AHHH" Piiman led the shout fest. "CAPTAIN!"

We look to where the three were fixated to. Usopp was running like his life depended on it. However, he was alone. Luffy wasn't with him.

No matter how much we called out, Usopp kept running past us. He didn't even spare us a glance.

With our curiosity and doubts at their peaks, we had the kids lead us to the coast.

-/\\-/\\-

"This is it." The kids led us to a cliff, "Captain's always here to heal his wounded heart. It feels really good here."

We searched everywhere, under the rocks, up in the trees, but still no sign of Luffy.

"That straw hat brother isn't here." Ninjin said.

Zoro sighed skeptically.

"This cliff is pretty steep." Nami commented while standing dangerously close the edge.

"Nami, be careful there." Zoro warned.

"Um." Nami stepped back.

"You know. Knowing Luffy, he would probably be down that cliff." I said, looking down. "Hey, is that him?"

They followed my pointing finger to a person, or the butt of a person, way down the cliff.

We hurried down on a safer path to where Luffy was.

"Luffy. How did this happen?!" Nami called out.

"He fell!" Piiman pointed.

"He's a goner." Tamanegi cried.

"So that's why our captain…" Ninjin deducted.

"Hum? Quiet!" Zoro ordered.

"What? Oh!" I realized.

The sound that prompted Zoro to shush us was unmistakable. It was a snore, and it was coming from the boy that's playing emu in front of us.

"Ptffff." I laughed. "Kahahahaha. Oh geez."

"Huh. This guy." Zoro smirked, and then proceed to poke Luffy's butt with his sword.

Luffy's hand twitched. The kids and Nami reeled back. Luffy pulled himself out of the ground and yawn like nothing happened.

"Morning!" He cheered.

"Morning, captain! Do you mind telling us how you ended up like that?" I asked.

"Hum? Sure." He said.

When Luffy finished with his tale, the kids were flabbergasted. "Ehhhhh?! They're going to kill Kaya-san?! Are they really going to attack the village?!"

"Yeah, that's what they said. No question about it." Luffy confirmed while putting his hat back on his head.

"So what were you sleeping down here for?" Zoro asked.

"That's the thing! I thought I was on the cliff…" Luffy told us about the incident.

I listened to his story for a bit, but then we were cut off when the kids shouted: "Let's hurry." And then ran off.

"Oh no!" Luffy panicked.

"What is it?" Zoro inquired.

"We need to stock up on food before the meat shop guy runs away!" Luffy responded.

"Way ahead of you, captain." I reassured him, "I bought the whole store."

Zoro stabbed Luffy with his scabbard.

"That's not the issue at hand here." He pointed out.

Nami smacked me upside the head.

"And don't encourage him." She scolded.

-/\\-/\\-

We returned to the village at Luffy's insistence: "We must hide the food!" he said.

Half way to the road, we found the kids lying breathless on the ground. We joined up and looked for Usopp. He would know a good hiding spot was Luffy's reason.

Upon seeing us, Usopp smiled. As soon as he saw Luffy, his expression turned horrified. He ran towards Luffy.

"You're alive?!" he freaked out.

"Alive? Yeah, I just woke up!" Luffy answered.

"This guy was asleep the whole time!" Ninjin said.

"Anyways, captain! We heard everything!" Piiman cut in.

"Let's hurry and tell everyone about the pirates!" Tamanegi told him.

The way Usopp paled put me on edge. He looked like he was recalling a nightmare.

He laughed.

A gut busting laugh like he was having the best time of his life. However, somehow, I can still feel the pain and the sadness that he felt. It rolled out of him like waves of the ocean.

"I'm lying like usual, obviously!" He declared, "The damn butler pissed me off, so I decided to claim he was a pirate!"

The kids joined him in laughing. We, on the other hand, couldn't.

The kids walked past him while laughing. Usopp stopped them and asked what was wrong. They all told him that they were disappointed in him and left.

It was a sad scene.

-/\\-/\\-

"Owwww!" Usopp complained.

After returning to the cliff, Nami helped Usopp take care of his arm. It was shot.

"Why did you tell them that?" Luffy jumped straight to the point.

"Because I'm a liar." Usopp answered with no hesitation, "They were never going to believe me from the start. I was too optimistic."

"Even so, the truth is the truth." Zoro stepped up.

We let that sink in for a moment.

"Pirates really are going to come, aren't they?" Nami asked.

"Yeah. They're definitely gonna show up." Usopp responded.

"What are you going to do then?" I asked.

Usopp stayed silent.

"Everyone thinks that it's a lie. They think tomorrow will just be another normal, peaceful day." He hung his head.

"That's why I'm going to stop the pirates at the beach tomorrow and make sure it stays a lie!" He declared, "That's the only logical thing for a liar like me to do!"

"Even if I get shot in the arm, even if I'm driven off with brooms, this is my village!" He cried, "I want to protect everyone!"

"You're one hell of a nice guy, pushing your henchmen away and going into battle alone!" Zoro clenched his swords.

"You're a funny guy. I quite like your conviction." I cracked my knuckles

"Just so you know, I have dibs on all the pirates' treasure!" Nami made a money sign.

"Alright! We'll help you out!" Luffy stretched himself.

Usopp stared at us and wiped away his tears:

"You guys…are going to fight with me!? Why?"

"There's a whole bunch of bad guys, right?" Luffy said.

"'Scared' is written all over your face." Zoro pointed out.

"M-me, scared?!" Usopp shot up, "I'm perfectly okay with lots of bad guys or whatever! Because I am Captain Usopp, a brave warrior of the sea!"

Despite what he said, Usopp's legs trembled worse than a newly born fawn's. He knows this himself and desperately hit his legs so they would stop trembling.

"Dammit! Dammit! This isn't a show!" He shouted, "These are Klahadore's pirates we're dealing with! Of course, I'm scared! What's wrong with that?! I don't want your sympathy! You guys can leave! Leave!"

"We're not laughing." I told him.

"We're helping 'cause we think you're honorable!" Zoro said.

"As if we'd risk our lives because of sympathy!" Luffy stated.

That cut Usopp short. He stopped shaking, but he started crying again.

"Oh…You guys…" He sniffled.

-/\\-/\\-

 **Ryuki: Once again, Q & A time!**

 **Me: Wohooooo.**

 **Ryuki: From Aliahra "How did she come to like Jerky so much?"**

 **Me: Uhhhh. That's because she's an idiot?**

 ***Bam***

 **Me: YEOUCH.**

 **Ryuki: No. It's because of YOU and YOUR obsession with jerky.**

 **Me: Ow, you didn't have to hit me. T.T**

 **Ryuki: Tch. Next: From UmbraAurumDragon: the issues with my memory.**

 **Me: Well, besides that part that was reviewed above?**

 **Ryuki: Most likely. Honestly, I've already forgotten many things, mostly details. Like I remember some faces but not who, some peoples but not their faces, and some events. It's all blurry and most of the time, I need some kind of cues to trigger the memories.**

 **Me: Don't say too much, man. That's my job.**

 **Ryuki: Fineee. Last one is from Hanase.**

 **Me: …**

 **Ryuki: …**

 **Me: You deal with this one.**

 **Ryuki: What? Wait! Oi! I don't understand the purpose of this chant! Hey!**

 **Aliahra: Hahaha, I'm just going to say 'Roronoa Zoro' and leave it at that.**

 **Ryuki + Me: UWAH. DON'T SUDDENLY APPEAR LIKE THAT.**


	15. Chapter 14: the Battle at South slope

"These are conversations"

And these are Ryuki's narrations

 **Hello my beloved readers. Heyyyyy, the new chapter's here! PS: Nope. Still don't own One Piece even now.**

-/\\-/\\-

It took a while for Usopp to stop crying, but he did.

"Listen! They're planning to attack the village tomorrow morning from this very slope." He said as we trudged up the slope, "However, this is the only route to the village. The rest are cliffs. There are no other ways to attack. In other words, if we hold firm this slope, the village will be safe."

"I see, that sounds simple."

"Talking's easy, but we'll need true strength for the battle." Usopp signed, "What're you guys capable of?

"Slicing." Said Zoro.

"Stretching." Said Luffy.

"Smashing." Said me.

"Stealing." Said Nami.

"I'll be hiding." Said Usopp.

"YOU'LL BE FIGHTING!" We shouted.

Luffy even went as far as choke hole Usopp. He had to squeeze out:

"Just joking, I'll back you guys up."

-/\\-/\\-

We made up a plan after a little argument. It's pretty simple: traps, traps, and trap the crap out of the slope. We originally planned on only using the oil, but with a bit of consideration, we upped our game.

In order to do that, Zoro and I followed Usopp back to his house to get the supplies. I had to hide the food too, per Luffy's insistence.

We brought back an unreal amount of spikes, shovels, paints, wires, arrows, and other assorted things. My favorites were the barrels of oils and a box of match that were dragged by me.

We spent about two hours rigging up the place. Usopp proved himself to be quite terrifying in the art. I'm not sure if anyone could walk up the slope.

There were all kinds of traps and pitfalls on the lower side of the slope. You can't step two feet without tripping something. Most of them aren't lethal, only set to knockout or incapacitate the enemies. I can't say the same about the ones Zoro set up. Especially with that bloodthirsty grin he was sporting.

The higher grounds were completely covered in oil to send anyone who made it through the first part back to that war zone. And of course, the oil is flammable. Also, we have a second batch of barrels to do it all again. *insert evil laughter*

"Good, it's perfect!" Usopp finally decided, "Now they can't get up this slope. If they ever get to the oil, we can jump out and take care of them."

"Uh huh. I'm more worried about whether they'd make it out of this alive." I said, "Did you see Zoro's face? Evil, I tell you, pure evil."

"Moron. You're just too soft." Zoro bit back.

"Anyway, we should be careful not to slip on it ourselves." Nami advised, "I'm pretty sure no one wants to test out Zoro's traps."

"You're kinda smart coming up with all of these traps!" Luffy complimented Usopp.

"Of course I am!" Usopp puffed up his chest, "I have complete confidence in my trap and shooting pachinko skills!"

We couldn't help but smile at him. Then we went on high alert as dawn comes.

We waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.

…

…

 _I wonder if I should tell Usopp about that Stranger lady that kept following him. I think it's his mom. They do share the same nose. Man, should I tell any of them?_

…

…

"Not here yet?" Luffy couldn't take it anymore, "And it's such a nice day too."

"I wonder if something went wrong. Also, what does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"Maybe they overslept? And a good day is perfect for everything." Zoro replied.

"They'll definitely come. They're just a little late." Usopp told us confidently.

 _Why do I have a feeling we're missing something and that all of this is pointless? Shit. I hope this isn't some sort of bad omen._

The universe loves to screw with me. As soon as my gut finished telling me the above, Nami put a hand on her ear, walked a bit, and told us:

"Hey guys, I'm not sure if it's just me hearing things, but there seem to be people shouting somewhere."

With her pointing that part out, I picked up on the shouting too.

"Nope. It's not just you." I assured her.

Just then, Usopp remembered something:

"Now that you mentioned it…"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Zoro asked him.

"There's an exact same slope up north!" Usopp freaked out, "Don't tell me…"

"Oh crap. Are we at the wrong coast?" Luffy asked him.

"They met on this coast, so I thought they'd come from this side!" Usopp defended.

"Then we oughta hurry or they'll attack the village!" Luffy reminded us.

"Shit. Usopp, how do we get to the other slope?" I asked him.

"Head straight north from here, it should take about three minutes." Usopp told us, "The landscape is very similar to this one. We just need to stop them at the slope, but…"

"Don't worry, we'll make it somehow." Luffy reassured him.

"OH CRAP! The north coast that you mentioned is where our ship is anchored!" Nami shouted, "ALL OF MY TREASURES WILL BE TAKEN!"

"I can be there in less than twenty seconds!" Luffy took off.

"Damn! I came up with such a great plan for nothing!" Usopp took off too.

"We. And let's go!" Zoro called and followed the two.

Meanwhile, Nami was still despairing over her treasures. I had to snap her out of it.

Just as I turned away from Nami and up the slope, I heard Nami scream and felt my belt being tucked backward. The movements were abrupt and unexpected, I lost my balance and had to step back to right myself.

Unfortunately, right behind me, where my foot landed, was our ingenious oil trap. Before I could even comprehend where I was, I found myself kissing the oil covered earth. I tried to reach for the safe and dry part of the land. Sadly, I felt a mass slamming onto my back, pushing me further down the slope and making me miss the safe zone.

I looked up, completely bewildered. Landed safely in front of me was Nami, the culprit who just pulled me down and used me as a springboard.

"Sorry, it's 'cause my treasures are in danger." She called back, "You'll have to find a way on your own!"

Watching her retreating back while I slid down the oil and into the traps, I was speechless.

I quickly snapped out of the daze when I saw the edge of the oil pool, a foot or two below it was the start of the trap zone, after all.

While sliding down the slope, I managed to turn my body sideway. So, I spun around and tried to use my elbow to stop my descent. The key word is "tried".

It didn't work.

The first trap I encountered, luckily, was set too high to hit me. The second one, however, were not. It was a pitfall. Set by Zoro.

Zoro is a sadist, no questions asked. There were spikes down that hole. Not high enough to kill, but deadly to your feet. If I hadn't managed to grab onto the edge, I would have a few holes in my feet by now.

Kicking the wall of the pitfall, I used the momentum to vault myself out of the hole. And right into another one. _Gods damn you, Usopp._

I don't know how long it took, but I made it through the war zone alive. The only problem now is that I need to be on the cliff, not under it.

First thing first, I'm covered in oil, feathers, itching powder, sparkles, and so many other different things. I needed to get rid of them first. I chose the best solution for that, a.k.a., I took a swim in the ocean.

Hey, when there's free and ready to use water, you use it.

Next, I need to figure out a way to get up the slope. Without using the actual slope, of course, I'm not going through that hellhole again.

I have two options: swim or climb.

Swimming around the island would be fine, it's not too big, but it would take too long to reach the other side.

So, I climbed. It wasn't easy. The cliff is mostly vertical. I'll just treat it like that exercise Kenichi-sensei used to have us do. Just without the weights this time.

It took some time and efforts, but I made it to the top. After taking a breath, I dashed north. Then stopped, reverse down the slope, grabbed two barrels of oil and the matchbox, then headed north, again.

-/\\-/\\-

 **Me: Ok. I know what you're all thinking. Why is this chapter so short? Well, my answer is that it's short because the next part just doesn't fit. So please bear with me.**

 **Ryuki: Thank you all for your patient. We're still going to answer some questions in this chapter, so don't worry.**

 **Me: Eyup. Let me have 'em Ryuki.**

 **Ryuki: Alright, here goes. First one, from UmbraAurumDragon: How much do I actually remember?**

 **Me: Huh. Ok. We'll start with addressing the concept of your memory. To us, memory is made up of two parts: "experience" and "knowledge". "Experience" is what you feel when you engage in certain actions, it's basically "This story makes me happy" kinda thing. "Knowledge", on the other hand, is what you learned, data, facts, basically "Earth is round, water is liquid" kinda thing.**

 **Ryuki: Yup. I retained the "knowledge", but nothing of the "experience". So considering I don't remember what I felt about the storyline, and it's been twenty-three years or more since I've read the story, I don't remember shit.**

 **Me: And like I said, she needs triggers for most of them. I can't give out more info than this. You'll all have to read and see for yourselves.**

 **Ryuki: next up, a question from Aliahra: …**

 **Me: Yoink. *grab the paper***

 **Ryuki: Wha, hey, what the hell?**

 **Me: Sorry, not sorry. The next questions will be answered next time. Someone called dibs on them.**

 **Ryuki: Who?**

 **Aliahra: Damn it, I was actually curious about that. When will I get my answer?! *Mop in corner***

 **Me: Again. Sorry, not sorry.**

 **Ryuki: Tch**

 **Me: Moving on. Thank you, roboYeti for your suggestion. I'll do my best, but this is still the East Blue arc. So, in due time my friend, in due time. That's it for now. Bye guys.**


	16. Chapter 15: to Kick the Cats

"These are conversations"

And these are Zoro's narrations

 **Hello my beloved readers. Happy New Year! And HOLY 10K VIEWS! This here is a special chapter as a gift to you all. PS: I don't own anything, except Ryuki's soul. Actually, that belongs to Death.**

-/\\-/\\-

My name is Zoro. I'm currently nineteen years old. I'm a swordsman and Luffy's first mate.

My dream is to become the world's strongest swordsman.

-/\\-/\\-

My adventure started out pretty early. I had travelled my island, defeating every swordsman to prove my strength. Then I met her. The bane of my existence: Kuina.

One thousand and one times we dueled; one thousand and one times I lost. The infuriating thing was that that brat dared to think that one day I'll win solely because she's a girl. What does that have to do with anything?

I smacked that fact straight in her face and challenged her to become the world's strongest swordsman, or swordswoman as she prefers. We were going to be the greatest.

Then she died.

I inherited her sword, the Wado Ichimonji. And I made a vow to myself: I will become so great, so famous, so powerful and strong, that my name will reach her no matter where she is.

-/\\-/\\-

After that incident, I trained like never before. I needed to get stronger and faster. So, I went after the pirates. They've travelled more than I did and possibly have met more swordsmen too.

One day, I followed this one coward out to sea, not too far. But then I lost my island. (Denial)

I had no choice but to move on. I hunted down wanted pirates to get money, and sometimes I would find a swordsman or two.

Life was ok until I met this douche. I think his name was Helmet-something. The douche lord had a wolf for a pet and was terrorizing the town. I stepped in and ended up tied to a post since he's the son of some marine big shot. No matter, I only had to survive one month to get out.

The plan changed drastically. What can it do, really? This was Luffy we're talking about. He saved me before the month ended. Apparently, the douche was going to execute me three days from then.

Naturally, we beat the shit out of that brat, his lackeys, and his father, too.

However, when I was tied to the post, Luffy held my swords hostage. He gave me two options: to leave that place as his Nakama, or a corpse. Cheeky bastard. I chose the first option, of course.

From then on, I officially became the first mate of a two-man crew. And I also realized that my captain is a fucking moron, the king of morons, basically.

Seriously, who the fuck set sail without any navigation skills? (You?) We didn't have enough provisions either. To make matters worse, the moron got himself carried away by a bird, of all things. Then we had to deal with Buggy and his annoying crew, too.

The only good thing we got out of that mess was a navigator and a quartermaster.

Our new navigator is an orange haired girl with a serious obsession for money called Nami. She's a little bit taller than Luffy, skinny, but very stealthy.

However, she had a rotten personality. She is a little cowardly, very selfish, and extremely violent. The good side is that she's an exceptional navigator who can predict and use the weather to her advantage.

Another thing is that Nami didn't actually join us. She stated that this was a partnership. I'll let Luffy fix that. For now, I am wary of her.

Our quartermaster is a redheaded man called Ryuki. He's really tall, as least a good six inches taller than me; fit, but skinny, like his muscle doesn't develop well; and a girly face, just a bit. All in all, he looks like a "bishounen"; I think that is what they're called.

He's got a weird personality, rigid at times, childish the next. Well, at least he's somewhat sane. (Or so you'd think) He does know what he's doing, though, we talked. Apparently, our duties overlapped each other. Quartermasters are normally the first mate, but since that's me, he took the position of the second mate, leaving Nami as third.

Ryuki is also the residence martial artist, according to Nami and Luffy. I haven't seen him fight, yet. But if the way he fished that sea king out with ease is any indication, I'm not going to underestimate him.

Although, seriously, Luffy is stubborn and annoying. Half a day. HALF A FUCKING DAY! It was about time Ryuki agreed, because if I had to hear Luffy asked ONE MORE TIME, I WOULD HAVE FUCKING DROWNED THE BOTH OF THEM!

We docked at a small inhabited island to get supplies. I needed some sake.

We were ambushed by a boy with a ridiculously long nose and curly hair called Usopp. Turns out, Luffy knows his father. So, he took us to a restaurant and gave us a free meal.

Then we asked him about getting a new boat. He started to fidget for some reason. When Nami asked him about the mansion up the hill, he snapped and then ran away.

We followed him with the help of his three minions. Ryuki went to get supplies, the lucky bastard.

We, except Ryuki, ended up being flung into the sky, landed painfully, insulted and then kicked out of the mansion.

Usopp ran off somewhere, and Luffy followed him. So, we waited for the two to come back.

Ryuki found us before they did. But he's with this backward-walking weirdo that claimed to be a hypnotist. The little brats and the self-proclaimed hypnotist all got hypnotized and dropped.

Of course, the redhead moron, who supposedly is older than all of us, got knocked out, too.

They all woke up after a while so that's fine, but Ryuki sure took his time. He did wake up, albeit much later, so it's ok.

We continued to wait for the two captains. We saw Usopp first. Luffy wasn't with him. While Usopp ran like mad towards the village, we went to the cliff to look for Luffy.

He ended up at the bottom of the cliff with his head stuck in the ground.

I woke him up and got the story out of him. We looked for Usopp afterwards.

We found him, but even if he tried to hide it, I could clearly tell that he's injured. I'm quite sure that the others could, too.

Usopp lied to his little minions to keep them away from the battle. It's a brave move; I like that, so I'll help him. My crewmates agreed with me.

We set up a lot of traps on the slope, where the battle was supposed to take place. I had my share of fun setting them up. The others are too soft, though: their traps are not deadly enough. No matter, it'll do.

Now we just have to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

The enemies never came. We were at the wrong slope. Dammit Usopp.

I tried to follow Luffy and Usopp to the North Slope, but they got lost halfway. Troublesome bastards. Ryuki and Nami seemed to have gotten lost, too.

Eventually, I found Luffy and we got to the actual battlefield where Usopp and Nami were holding the line. How did they get here so fast? Ryuki is not here, where is he?

Ryuki's whereabouts was going to have to wait. We have a pirate crew to screw with.

It was kinda disappointing, really. The pirates are ridiculously weak. It didn't take much effort for Luffy and me to knock them all back down the slope.

The annoying part was when Jango hypnotized his crew and they all went berserk. And my moronic captain was hypnotized, too. At least, he pushed them back down the slope again.

But now he's stuck under the enemy's ship figurehead. Nami tried to go after him but she got hurt.

And now this shithead catman just threw my swords! He is DEAD!

Tch. He's not. The bastard is slippery and his brother hits hard!

Klahadore showed up and everyone stopped. He gave us ten minutes for something.

Nami gave me my swords back, but she kicked them. Dammit, woman.

Now the brothers are trying to kill their old captain and are getting their ass kicked. With my swords back, I took them down in one move. I just need to take out the butler now.

Sadly, my plan went off course, again.

-/\\-/\\-

The Nyaban brothers passed out in front of Nami and Jango. In a last desperate attempt at defeating Zoro, Buchi, the bigger brother, grabbed onto Jango's foot.

"That bastard *pant pant* I'll kill him!" He pushed himself off the ground, "Captain. Please hypnotize me! Please, captain!"

Listening to Buchi's request, Jango dangled his ring in Buchi's face.

"When I say one, two, Jango, you will become a monster! Now, One! Two! Jango!"

I looked in shock as the every muscle of the catman bulged up, and he roared.

"Shit. Hypnotist again?" I lamented, "He's gonna be more of a pain now. He tore the ground apart in his original state. Let's see what he can do now!"

I flicked my sword up and grabbed it with my mouth and prepared to counter the berserk cat.

Buchi charged at me, fully intended to grind me into dust. Just as we near each other, a barrel whisked past me and slammed into Buchi. The barrel flew fast enough to catch me off guard and knocked Buchi backwards.

I whipped around to see who threw the barrel, and it was Ryuki. About damn time he shows up.

Ryuki stood atop the slope, still in his throwing pose with his left arm covering his face, and the other still holding another barrel. Suddenly, he pulled his arms to the sides, puffed out his chest, threw his head back, and roared.

Perfect. Another one of our shitheads got himself hypnotized.

I quickly dodged out of Ryuki's way as he charged down the slope, toward Buchi and Jango. Bushi was standing up and Jango was preparing his ring, again.

Before Jango could even count, Ryuki threw the other barrel at him, effectively stopping the process and knocking him down.

A familiar smell wafted into my nose. Is that gasoline? Holy, those are gasoline barrels!

Buchi stood up after Jango went down, he roared at Ryuki, who roared back. They charged. Buchi took a swipe at Ryuki, he ducked down and left hooked the cat. Before Buchi could regain his footing, Ryuki attacked again: a right hook, left hook, spin kick to the head, and a whole bunch of other moves.

In one of the uppercuts that Ryuki dealt out, his gauntlets scratch against Buchi's claws, creating a spark and setting the gasoline on fire.

Ryuki seemed to know what he's doing. He took a step back and sucker punched Bushi in his gut, launching the cat down the slope and into the ocean in a fiery ball of death.

Jango chose that moment to wake up. I'm not sure what went through his head, but he looked ready to piss his pants. I can't really blame him. There is a redheaded moron, or monster in his case, wearing two gauntlets that were on fire and staring at him. And he's covered in flammable liquid.

Shakily, Jango tried to set up his ring to hypnotize Ryuki. His intended victim promptly leaned down, grabbed the ring and roar in his face. Jango squealed and fainted, foaming at the mouth.

Then Ryuki stood and stared straight at Nami. He started growling and stalking forward.

Shit! He's gonna go after her! "NAMI RUN!" I shouted.

Nami squeaked and turned tail. Ryuki jerked and followed her. Before I could move, Usopp shouted:

"HISATTSU! PACHINKO BOSHI! AND NEMURI BOSHI!"

Two bullets shot past my head. The first one was a pachinko ball that slammed into Ryuki's head and made him stagger. As soon as he turned around, the second bullet hit him head on, exploding into a small cloud of white powder.

Ryuki choked on the cloud and coughed, which resulted in him inhaling even more powder. When the cloud finally dissipated, he looked at Usopp and roared.

Usopp might have redirected Ryuki's attention to himself. Good news is that it's not on Nami anymore.

"ZORO, SAVE MEEEE!" Usopp freaked out on the slope.

"NAMI! WAKE LUFFY UP!" I shouted to her as I prepared to defend Usopp.

"JUST KEEP HIM OFF MY BACK!" Nami shouted back and ran for Luffy.

Contrary to our expectations, Ryuki did not go after Usopp. Instead, he turned around and charged down the slope, again.

Nami ran down the slope as fast as she could, but Ryuki was catching up.

"Shit! Usopp, shoot him again!" I told him.

Usopp complied and load his slingshot, but before he could shoot, Ryuki ran past Nami and toward the pirates that were cowering down the slope.

"Eh?" We all said.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The pirate screamed.

While Ryuki raised holy hell on the pirates, Nami went to wake up Luffy.

After a minute or two of laying waste to the enemy, Ryuki's movement got sluggish.

"Oh shit! The Nemuri Boshi is taking effect!" Usopp said.

"What's Nemuri Boshi?" I asked him.

"It's high-grade sleeping powder." He told me.

Sure enough, Ryuki staggered. Noticing his own state, he retreated to Luffy and Nami. Then proceed to plop down and went to sleep.

We lost another fighter, but we got Luffy back up in time. Nami had to step on him, but whatever works, works.

Now we just have a faux butler to deal with.

Annoyingly, the situation got complicated. Kaya, the owner of the mansion and Usopp's friend came to the battlefield. She nearly got herself killed running behind the butler. She's lucky that Usopp reacted in time.

The butler is currently spewing his plan for all of us to hear, and now I want to slit his guts.

The little lady sure has guts, though. She pointed a gun at the butler. Sadly, she got tricked by that bastard's silver tongue, again.

Oh! Looks like Usopp has the gun now. Oh shit! The cat bastard got him!

The bastard has his long claws around Usopp's head.

"Come to think of it, you still owe me a punch to the face." He said, "You hit me pretty hard that time."

All of my senses were on high alert. I needed to get to Usopp and fast.

So focused on the situation was I, I didn't notice Luffy stretching behind me until he already passed me.

He nailed the butler in his face.

"Since you hate it so much, I'll give you a hundred more for free!" Luffy told him.

Everyone was so surprised, no one moved or reacted. Except for three little brats.

The three stooges jumped out from the bushes and brought a pan, a shovel, and a bat down on the downed butler. They hit him repeatedly.

We all freaked out and tried to get them to stop, but they wouldn't listen.

Shit. They're gonna get themselves killed at this rate.

I was right. The kids' attacks didn't even leave a mark on the bastard. All it really did was break his glasses and piss him off.

Luckily, the butler seemed to be angrier at Luffy than the kids. Case in point, he ignored them and addressed the captain:

"Not bad." He said, "That was a good punch you threw there. Bastard! You possess the power of a Devil's Fruit, don't you?"

"Yeah, the rubber fruit. I'm a rubber human." Luffy replied.

His answer freaked out the pirates, the ones that were still conscious. The butler just sneered.

"Good. I'll take care of you and your minions. Your fruit will greatly expand my wealth." He said, "After all, Kaya-ojousama _will_ write the will as planned! And she _will_ die for me!"

He pointed his claws out like a flower. Then he added an afterthought:

"As for the three ants over there, I'll get rid of them all!" He growled.

Hearing the exclamations, Usopp immediately put himself between the butler and the weaker group:

"You are not laying a hand on them! Not while I'm here!" then he turned to the kids, "Usopp Pirate crew! Listen to me!"

"We're not running away!" Ninijn answered.

"He's gone too far!" Piiman added.

"We're gonna get our revenge!" Tamanegi ended.

"Protect Kaya!" Usopp said, "I'm giving you the most important mission! Get Kaya away from here! There's no way you can't because, we formed this crew to protect what we cherish the most!"

"Aye! Captain!" The kids shouted back in tears.

What an elegant speech. It's the same as telling them to run away.

As they lead the lady away, Luffy and I made our way up the hill.

"USOPP!" Luffy called out, "Good job!"

"You go escort them. We'll take over from here." I took his spot.

He looked at us in wonder:

"You guys. THANKS." And ran after the group.

"Tch. Run all you want. I'll finish here and hunt you all down like little mice." The butler glared, "And who gave you permission to get past this slope?"

"That would be ME!" Luffy punched him.

The bastard dodged. Luffy followed up with a Rocket and a Yari. Both of which missed. However, they got the cat's full attention.

"Before we fight, I'd like to ask you one thing." He said, "Why would you, an outsider, get yourself involved in this?"

"Because there's a man here whom I don't want to see dead!" Luffy answered.

Neither do I.

"Heh. That's simple. But, is it ok?" the butler smirked, "For this to be your reason of death?"

"It's fine. But I'm not gonna die!" Luffy said.

"Then let me show you death!" the bastard growled and attacked.

As soon as he said that, I felt a strange aura wash over the area. It felt like a killer instinct from someone much much stronger than anyone I've ever known. It felt like death itself was presented. And it set me on edge.

The strange fact was that the aura originated from down the slope, where the only ones conscious are Nami and a few near-death pirates.

I don't know what caused that. But whatever it is, only I felt it.

I focused back to the fight when Luffy stretched down and picked up a huge boulder to block the butler's attack. He broke one set of the claws with it.

It looks like the ex-pirate was once called Kuro. Damn, who name their kids Black?

"If you're so afraid of the fame on the sea, then you're not a pirate!" Luffy grinned at Kuro.

Then he slammed the crushed boulder into the stunted pirate:

"Heh. If you wanna compare ambitions," Luffy said, "MINE IS GREATER!"

I think the hit was too much for Kuro, now he's talking about killing his whole crew. Well if he wanted to die via Luffy, I'm not gonna stop him.

Ah, fuck! The fucking shithead wasn't messing around! He's really trying to kill everyone, even his crew. He used a move called "Shakushi" to do it. Basically, he's running really fast and slashing at everything. Apparently, his current speed is so fast, he can't see where he's going.

Now he's slashing away at his own crew, which is really bad because that means he can reach Ryuki and Nami.

Wait! Where the heck is Nami? AH! When did she get on the enemy's ship? Tch. Damn thief. At least she got Ryuki out of there… Fuck! She didn't!

Right then, a set a cut marks appeared on the pirate next to Ryuki, right above his prone form.

Shit! That was way too close for comfort.

"WHAT DO YOU TAKE YOUR MEN FOR?!" Luffy roared.

When he got cut this time around, Luffy reached out and caught the butler's collar and then threw him over his shoulder.

"Found ya." He smiled.

"You bastard! You should've stood still and let me finish them. Look!" Kuro sneered, "Because of you, all of my beloved men are half-dead. It would've been more humane to finish them off."

It's official. That bastard is nuts. And he's dead. Ahh, fuck. He's starting the "Shakushi" again. Ah!

Only a few moments after Kuro started running, Luffy reached out and caught him again. This time, Luffy hooked his limbs around Kuro, making it impossible for him to run away.

Seeing their captain, who just a few seconds ago were cutting them down like weeds, in a bind, the pirates started to cheer for Luffy.

In respond to that, Luffy headbutted the butler and then stretched his neck all the way down the slope.

"DON'T CHEER FOR ME!" He reprimanded them.

Then with a shout of:

"GOMU GOMU NOOOOOOOOO YAAARIIIIII!"

Luffy headbutted Kuro into oblivion.

-/\\-/\\-

 **Me: Alright! I hope you all enjoyed that as much as I did. And before anyone ask, Zoro have always been good at noticing things that no one else could, and that includes that aura. As I had stated earlier, this is a special chapter. That said. I Ryuki is still out of commission and won't be part of this! Now, without further ado, MIC PASS!**

 **Death: Hello everyone, Death is here to answer your questions.**

 **Me: Eyup. SURPRISE!**

 **Death: Ehehehehehe. SURPRISE!**

 **Me: Dude. What's with the low, breathy, and creepy voice? You weren't like that before.**

 **Death: ? Oh! Right now, I am Grim.**

 **Me: Reaper? OK then. Also, was that a Groot reference I heard?**

 **Death: You're just imagining things. To the question!**

 **Me: Right. From Aliahra: Why did you make Ryuki forget everything?**

 **Death: One: Not everything, just her "experience". Two: Because I wanna.**

 **Me: That last answer is not valid. You'll find out more, later.**

 **Death: It is sooooo valid. Next.**

 **Me: Tch. From UmbraAurumDragon. Can I call you Umbra? Anyway, the question: "Is it weird I'm kinda shipping them now?"**

 **Death: Awwwww. To think that I would be considered as part of a ship, you're making me blush. There is nothing wrong with building ships, so don't worry.**

 **Me: Eh. True.**

 **Death: Well, there's no more question this time. I'll see you all later.**

 **Me: Yeah. Bye guys.**


	17. Chapter 16: the Two new Nakamas

"These are conversations"

And these are Ryuki's narrations

 **Hello my beloved readers. Thanks for waiting, here's a new chapter for you all. PS: This is on a web page called FanFiction for a reason, aka, it's not canon. I don't own canon.**

-/\\-/\\-

I woke up with a raging headache and blurry memories. I did the only reasonable thing at the time: I stayed still and let everything come back to me.

I couldn't really remember what happened. After I finally managed to get to slope, there was a random butler, Usopp on the ground, Zoro and Nami were standing next to Jango , a dude cosplaying as a cat, and _was that Luffy under a ship head? How the hell?_

Then I noticed Jango waving his ring in front of the cat-guy. Everything after that was a bit blurry.

To make things worse, my head felt like my brain is having a rave party. What the hell is a rave party anyway?

 _Ow ow ow ow. Fuckkk. Light! Pain! Ughhhhhh. This reminds me of my first hangover. Never. Again._

"Oi Usopp. How much sleeping powder did you use?" someone asked. "Ryuki's not waking up at all!"

That sounds like Zoro.

"Uhhh. Not a lot. He should wake up sometime soon." Usopp, I presume, answered.

"Hey, Ryuki, you up?" a third voice asked.

I think this one is Luffy. Try as I might, all I could vocalize was a pained groan.

"Shi shi shi shi shi. You are. Hey, where did you hide the meat?" he asked.

 _Yup. It's Luffy._

I responded with another groan.

"Luffy. Now is really not the time to ask that." Nami asked I think.

"Are you ok? You don't sound too good." Zoro asked.

I tried to sit up but only managed to roll over onto my back.

"Ughhh. My brain is tap dancing in my skull." I groaned out.

I got sympathetic noises from Zoro and Nami, an apology from Usopp, and a stupid comment from Luffy:

"AWESOME! YOUR BRAIN CAN DANCE?!" He asked.

We ignored him and Zoro handed me a water barrel, which I drained as fast as humanly possible.

We sat there in silence as I nursed my impossible hangover. As my headache subsides, the memory of the fight came back to me.

Apparently, I got hypnotized by Jango and got a power up. I remember that it felt weird. I could only give my body simple orders, like where to attack and who to attack, no more than that. I couldn't really talk, though.

 _Ugh. That was dangerous. I could have made a fatal mistake with that reckless charging, or worse, hurt one of the Straw Hats. I need to be more careful about this. But for now, I have a score to settle._

My headache finally subsided and my mind cleared. I heard Nami say something about her treasures and a memory popped into my mind. I stood up with caution. When I was sure I wouldn't fall down or something equally annoying, I turned to Nami.

"You abandoned me!" I pointed at her accusingly.

"Wha…? My treasures were in danger!" Nami defended.

"So you sacrificed me?!" I asked.

"Uh huh. My treasures take priority over everything else." She declared.

"What the hell?! Dame it, Nami, what the hell are you? A witch?" I demanded.

"For Money, I will be a witch if needed." She told me with a burning determination.

"You need therapy." I deadpanned, "Also, you owe me."

"WHAT?! HOW AND WHY THE HELL DO I OWE YOU!?" She screamed in my face.

"Your treasure was safe due to my sacrifice, so of course, you owe me. I won't ask for your money so calm down." I explained.

She calmed down, still grumbling a bit, but at least she wasn't trying to rip my face off anymore.

And now: Usopp's turn.

I turned away from Nami and face Usopp. I rapped my knuckles on his skull, not too hard, just enough to feel pain.

"Ow. What the…? What was that for?" Usopp scowled at me.

"You shot me." I stated.

"Oh! You remember?" Usopp asked, a little freaked out.

"Yeah, I do." I answered.

And then I flicked his forehead. Hard. His head flung backward a bit.

"YEEOOUCH! BASTARD. WHY?" He barked at me.

"That's for knocking me out." I said, "I had it under control you know."

"What do you mean you had it under control? You were growling and chasing after Nami!" He jabbed his nose at me.

"I knew what I was doing and I was not chasing after her." I pushed his nose out of my face, "Also, that's revenge for my raging headache."

"Ugh. Tch." He gave up, "Anyway, thanks again for earlier. Thanks to this incident, I've finally decided upon something."

We all looked at him questionably.

"Well, I need to do something, see you guys later." Usopp said.

"Ah! Wait, show me the way to your house, I need to get the stuff." I stopped him.

"Huh? Oh, sure. Come on." He signaled for me to follow.

-/\\-/\\-

As we walked to Usopp's house in silence, I decided break the silent. So, I asked him about his trademark lying, it felt important somehow.

"Hey, Usopp. Don't answer if you don't want to, but why did you start lying all the time?"

Usopp tripped on flat ground.

"Ughhhhhhh." He drawled.

"Like I said, don't answer if you don't want to." I reminded him.

"No no, it's alright. I have to get it out someday." Usopp assured me, more like himself.

Since Yasopp, Usopp's father, was a pirate and he was never home. Usopp grew up without ever seeing his father. So, all the love that was for two parents were all given to his mother. When she got sick, she became bedridden, Usopp was devastated. Even so, he still wanted his mother to be happy. And he started telling everyone that pirates are coming. It started as a lie and ended as a desperate wish. No matter how desperate Usopp was, his wish never came true.

When his mother passed away, Usopp developed a routine, every morning, he would call out that pirates were coming, just like he had done when she was alive, just like the wish that he has always had. After that, he kept lying out of instinct.

"Oh look, we're here," Usopp announced.

I went to collect the stuff, aka food, while Usopp waited outside.

"Ryuki?" He called.

"Hmm? What is it?" I asked.

"Thanks for listening to me." He said.

"No problem." I smiled.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"What do you think my mother would say if she was still here today?" Usopp asked me.

At that exact moment, I was completely calm. The next moment, I was still calm but on the outside only. Inside, my Instinct and Logic were at each other's throat trying to decide my course of action.

Instinct argued that I should flat out tell him about his dead mother following him everywhere.

Logic says that I should make up something and don't tell him about the Strangers.

We ended up choosing a compromise.

I walked toward Usopp, looking like I was in deep thought.

"If your mother was alive, I would say she would slap you upside the head for lying so much, and then ground your ass like this." I said, throwing Usopp into his house and barring the door.

Before the mother-turned-Stranger could react, I grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes:

"Alright, listen clearly and listen fast. I can see you and I can hear you. Usopp won't take long to get out of the house. When he does, I will relay your message to him, but I will not be able to talk to you then. Also, don't talk too fast." I shot a string of words at her.

My prediction was right, it only took Usopp a few seconds to climb the roof and jump on me.

"Bastard! Locking me in my house like that, I was asking you a serious question!" He growled.

We wrestled a bit, Usopp tried to choke me. The key word is "tried". He has almost no muscle at all. When we leave, I'm going to get all of them to exercise. Well, that's to worry about later.

"Whoa, calm down, I'm sorry." I told him.

"No you're not, you're laughing." Usopp pointed.

"Kahaha, sorry. I just couldn't give up the chance. Sorry." I raised my hand in surrender.\

Usopp mumbled incoherent words, but if the scandalous look on his mother's face is anything to go by, I don't want to know what he said.

"If your mother was still alive," I said, startling Usopp.

I waited for his mother to say something. She hesitated but gave in after looking at her son.

"She would really slap you upside the head and ground you. Actually, no, she wouldn't ground you. After all, she'd want to meet your lady love, Kaya-ojousama. And she would want some grandchildren" I gave him a thumbs up.

I earned myself a dope slap from a flabbergasted Usopp for that.

"Never the less, she'd be proud of the man you've become. Despite your obvious flaws like your lying and cowardly tendencies. But then again, you're a pirate. But she'd still love you for that. And she would want you to know that you shouldn't let other people cut you short because you have a bigger ambition than anyone of them will ever have. And she will always cheer for you, no matter where you end up." I relayed the message.

Usopp was a crying mess. So was his mother. I'm beginning to see where his emotional side comes from. I gave him a sad smile and ruffled his hair.

"Come on, don't cry, smile for her." I told him.

Usopp smacked my hand away from his head, wiped off his tears and gave us a bright smile.

"There we go." I smiled back.

Usopp's mother, who had been trying to hug him for a while now, stepped back and started to glow brightly.

"Thank you." She said, "Please, take care of my son."

"Don't worry, we'll take care of Usopp." I said to her.

In a shower of light, she disappeared, moving on to a better place.

-/\\-/\\-

Leaving Usopp to take care of his business, I carried our provisions back to the shore. I was surprised to see a ship with a sheep figurehead, a butler with a similar hairdo, Kaya-ojousama, and my crew talking excitedly together.

Luffy saw me first, he waved at me:

"RYUUU, LOOKKKK, WE HAVE A SHIP!" He hollered.

"Nice." I smirked. _Wait. Did he just call me Ryu?_

I went down to where the group was and set the stuff down:

"When did you guys get the ship?" I asked them, "And Ryu?"

"Just now! Kaya-san prepared it for us when we went to get breakfast." Zoro answered.

"Uh huh, Ryu is your nickname." Luffy explained.

"Tch. Wait. Heyyyyy. You guys got food without me?!" I scowled.

"Shishishi. It tasted great!" Luffy laughed.

"I want to taste it myself, you moron." I told him.

Everyone was laughing and having a good time when a strange noise reached us. Usopp, carrying a huge backpack, was rolling down the slope.

"What's he up to?" Luffy wondered.

"Anyway, let's stop him. He's heading straight for the ship." Zoro observed.

The two morons lifted their legs and planted it firmly on Usopp's face, successfully stopping Usopp's descent and flattening his face.

"T-Thanks" Usopp said through his tears.

"Ah." Luffy said.

Usopp got off the backpack and chatted with his girlfriend. We gave them some privacy and left to get out stuff on the ship, ah sorry, Merry.

We waited patiently for the two lovebirds to finish talking.

"You guys, take care too!" Usopp suddenly called out to us, "I'll see you again someday!"

"Why?" Luffy called back.

"Eh? Why? You're slow, aren't you?" Usopp sighed, "I'll be a pirate just like you, so we might meet on the sea one day.

"What the heck are you talking about?" I inquired.

"Hurry up and get on!" Zoro demand impatiently.

"Aren't we already comrade?" Luffy asked, puzzled.

Usopp stood frozen at his spot. We smiled at him. Then with a bright grin, Usopp jumped up:

"I'M THE CAPTAIN!" He whooped

"DON'T BE STUPID. I'M THE CAPTAIN!" Luffy shouted back.

-/\\-/\\-

Luffy pulled out the rum and mugs and gave them to us:

"To our new ship and a new friend!"

"CHEERS" We clashed our mugs.

It was a small but wild party.

-/\\-/\\-

"Alright guys, now that we have a new boat, I get this room and the rest of you share the other one." Nami declared.

"What?! Why do you get a whole room to yourself?" Usopp challenged.

"Yeah! How come?" Luffy concurred.

"Because I'm a girl, no way I'm sharing a room with any of you." Nami bit back

Zoro smirked at the arguing group and I just raised my eyebrow at the ruckus.

 _I wonder if they have forgotten that Luffy is the captain. Also, as the quartermaster, I'm the one who gets to decide who sleep where._

"Are you going to do your job or do you want me to do it, quartermaster?" Zoro asked me.

"Thank you. For actually remembering what my job is, Zoro." I pinched the bridge of my nose.

 _This was going to be a pain and a half to settle._

I addressed the three:

"Guys, guys, stop." I pushed them apart, "First of all, the "quarter" in quartermaster means sleeping places. That means I get to assign sleeping spaces, OK?"

They quieted down, unwillingly, but they did.

"Second, that room is the captain's quarter." I pointed to the one Nami called dibs on, "The other one is the crew's sleeping quarter. That's how it usually goes. The captain is also supposed to decide which room is which. However, we are not a "usual" crew." I pointed to Luffy.

We all looked at our rubber-brained captain who was picking his nose like the whole thing wasn't supposed to be his job.

"As you can see, due to our captain being 'that'," I pointed at Luffy, "and our first mate is 'that'" I pointed at Zoro, to his annoyance, "I will deal with assigning posts. Is that ok with you, captain?"

He gave me two thumbs up and his trademark grin.

"Everyone?"

They gave me a variation of 'sure'.

"Alright, let's start with sleeping places. We have two options, the 'boy and girl rooms' system or the 'captain and crew quarter' system. The 'room' system means one room gets assigned to the girls and the other for the boys, simple as that. Yes, captain, you will share the room with the other boys." Luffy put his arm down, "The 'quarter' system is what most crews use. The captain gets his own room while the rest share amongst them. Normally, crews have bigger ships and more rooms, so there are two rooms for each gender. However, the Going Merry is a small one, therefore, we only have one." I smiled brightly at Nami, "Don't worry Nami, I'm sure we can give you a corner!"

The sound of her vicious disagreement made us all laugh.

"Alright, joking aside, which one do you choose captain?" I asked Luffy.

The crew stopped laughing and stared at Luffy. He looked at me and asked:

"Ryuki, can you explain the captain's room thingy?"

"Sure, the captain's quarter is use by and only by the captain. No one else is allowed in there except you, Luffy. Personally, I'd say it can get a bit lonely in there. Anything else, captain?"

While Luffy thinks, I saw something cross his face. It was only there for a moment so I can't be sure what. But I think it was sadness and nostalgia?

We waited patiently for Luffy. Nami was desperately whispering " the first option" over and over.

"Yosh! Let's go with the 'boys and girls rooms' one." He finally gave us the answer.

Usopp 'Tch'd, Nami whooped, and Zoro was indifferent to the whole thing. I lingered on the fact that he got the name right, but decided to move on:

"Sweet, onto the next subject: moving this ship. As you guys should have noticed, we don't have a designated helmsman. For most small ships, said helmsman is the captain. Again, said captain is Luffy." I pointed to him, "So until we get a helmsman, we need a different system. I propose we take turn being at the helm. That way, we won't be stuck if the designated helmsman is out of commission. Any objections?"

No one did.

"Good. Then Nami, you're in charge of giving directions to the crew on how to operate the ship, since you're our navigator and the only one I can trust to do so. Deal?" I asked her.

"Fine by me." She said.

"Cool. Next subject is the watchman. We should take turns for that one too. Agreed? Agreed."

They all sweatdropped.

"Alright, now we need to deal with chores." I told them.

Nami murmured in agreement while the rest groaned.

"By the definition of my title, I'm in charge of this. No, that does not mean I'm doing all of it." Luffy and Usopp's faces fell, "What it means is that I'm in charge of dishing out the chores to the rest of you. Yes, I will do some of them myself. And no Luffy, I will not budge on this problem and yes you do have to listen to me." I answered Luffy's and Usopp's questions, "Are we clear?"

I gave them a smile but they backed off for some reason. What were they afraid of? Oh well, at least they understood my point.

"Well, that's all I can think of right now. So, now we will listen to your orders, captain." I said.

Luffy's face lit up:

"I want all the meat!" He said.

"Within reason." I smiled back.

Luffy pouted then gave us a jaw-cracking yawn:

"I wanna sleep then." He told us.

The yawn was contagious. We did stay up the whole night after all.

"Welp, you heard captain. Let's move in and go to sleep." Zoro said.

So move we did. The boys dropped their stuff into their room while Nami dragged her stuff through the storage room and down the stair. I carried my stuff after her.

The problem was that I forgot one very crucial thing: the fact that no one knows I'm a girl.

That led to a very awkward situation. When Nami noticed me in the girl's room, she screamed and threw every object she could reach.

Startled by the scream and sudden pains, I stumbled up the stairs and fell out onto the deck, where the boys were waiting with caution. Even then Nami was still throwing things at me.

"Ow ow ow, Nami stop, ow ow ow, STOP." I grabbed her hands, "What the ever loving fuck, Nami?"

"What? You snuck into my room! You fucking pervert!" Nami screamed at me.

The boys gasped.

"What? What the hellllll…" I trailed off, facepalmed, and moaned, "Aw hell, I forgot to tell you guys."

"Tell us what? That you're a pervert?" Nami asked sarcastically.

"No." I inhaled, "There is no easy way to say this, is there?"

I peaked at everyone through my hand, they're all waiting with various expressions: Nami with fury, Usopp with confusion, Zoro with curiosity, and Luffy with excitement. I sighed.

"I'm a girl." I told them.

Wait for it.

Waaaaaiiiiiit for it.

"WWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTT?!" They screamed in unison.

There it is.

"Like I said, I'm a girl. You know, female?" I confirmed.

"LIES!" They shouted.

"You don't have boobs." Luffy poked my chest.

"You don't need boobs to be female." I dope slapped him.

"You're too violent to be female." Zoro stated.

I stared at him, then pointed to Nami. Zoro opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

"Good point." He finally said.

Usopp was having a panic attack and so couldn't say anything.

"I don't believe you." Nami declared.

"What do I have to do for you to trust me?" I asked her, "I refuse to strip, just so you know."

"Oh don't worry, I have my way." Nami said.

The next second, every fiber of my being seized into panic and I let out the highest shriek I ever did my entire life.

I don't care if you're a man or a woman, if Nami grabs your crotch, you react.

And I did just that. I pushed her away from me and dashed backward, trying to get as much distance between us as possible.

"!#$*&$% !^&#$%^$! #$%^%" I shouted.

The boys covered their jewels and did the same. Nami just stood there staring at her hand.

"You…you're really a girl!" Nami said disbelievingly.

"I kept telling you! I am a girl!" I howled, trying and failing to keep the blush of embarrassment and rage off my face.

"Nami," Zoro put a hand on her shoulder, "I know we're pirates but, uh, please don't do that."

"Sorry." Nami whispered, still disbelievingly.

"I'm just… I'm just going to go sleep." I said awkwardly, "Night guys."

I dashed back to our room, put my stuff in the corner, set up a hammock, and tried to go to sleep. It took me a long time to achieve my desired state of mind.

-/\\-/\\-

Neither Nami nor I could look each other in the eyes for the next couple days.

-/\\-/\\-

 **Ryuki: Well, there's only one question this time around. From Umbra: Isn't Zoro 19?**

 **Me: Yeah, my mistake. Thanks for pointing that out Umbra, I fixed it btw. Also, yes you can call me Haru.**

 **Ryuki: That's done, now if you excuse me I have something to do.**

 **Me: Yeah go ahead and recuperate.**

 **Ryuki: Just a reminder, Haru. You will pay.**

 **Me: Uhhhhhhh. Um, guys, remember to vote in the poll and Imma hide now. Bye!**


	18. Chapter 17: the New and the Random

"These are conversations"

And these are Ryuki's narrations

 **Hello my beloved readers! I am BACKKKKKK. I LIVEEEEE. Chap 17 is here! PS: I own nothing, except Ryuki and Death.**

-/\\-/\\-

After getting ourselves a new boat, a new crewmate, and a certain incident that will not be mentioned, we set off without any destination. Again.

Of course, it didn't take long before the moronic duo got bored, which leads to Usopp roleplaying at the ship's front:

"Foolish pirates! You still dare to attack the Going Merry knowing it's being led by the great Captain Usopp!?" He shouted.

Then he jumped off the railing brandishing a stick. Zoro had stared Usopp down when he tried to use an actual sword.

He stopped when he noticed that we all were ignoring him.

Zoro was trying to nap on the side, he kept yawning. Nami was reading a map with her back toward the commotion. I was trying meditating against the mast; as my guts kept telling me to. And Luffy is doing gods know what in the corner.

"Hey, can't you guys pay at least some attention to people?" Usopp complained.

Then he jumped:

"IT'S DONE!" Luffy shouted.

Luffy showed us our 'flag'.

"After Usopp joined us, we have five people, so we need our own mark!" He told us.

Honestly, I don't even know how to describe the 'thing' that Luffy had just created.

"A pirate's flag is a symbol of death and terror." Zoro said.

"I do feel the terror, but it's the terror of your talent." Nami commented.

I walked up to Luffy, confiscated the abomination, rolled it up, lit it on fire, and threw it over board with all my strength. Then I turned back to Luffy and put my hands on his shoulders:

"No." I said.

"Tch tch. You should have discussed it with me first." Usopp wagged his finger at us, "How can you forget this genius painter?"

We looked at him in various states of doubt.

"I've had 50 years of experience painting on walls. When it comes to painting, no one does it better than me." He claimed.

"Incredible! 50 years?!" Luffy screamed excitedly.

"That means…you're an old man!" Zoro jabbed.

"Maybe he has 5 or 6 grandchildren already." Nami added.

"Uwah, so you're pedophiliac to Kaya-san?" I pour even more oil to the fire.

Luffy gave Usopp a scandalous face.

"Hey!" Usopp smacked us upside our heads.

We left the painting to Usopp in the end. It only took five minutes for Usopp to finish. However, there was a distinct lack of a certain straw hat on the picture, and a distinct presence of a certain long nose. Luffy and Zoro dope slapped him.

And so, with another five minutes, our flag was finally done. Now all that's needed to be done was to paint it on the sail and hang up the flag.

Usopp got the painting job. He took a few buckets of paints and climbed up the main mast.

This left me in a pickle since I have to hang the flag on top of that mast. And I don't want to climb over Usopp, causing hazardous situations. With a bit of thinking, I came up with the perfect solution. But first, I need to get Zoro.

"Hey, Zoro, would you mind giving me a hand?" I asked while rolling up the flag.

"Hmm? What is it?" He inquired.

"Here, hang on to this." I handed the flag to him, "Clench it, and do not let it go. Now hang tight."

"What?" He did as I said.

Then I grab the back of his collar and flung him up the mast.

"Hang it up there Zoro. Then you can jump down." I called up after him.

"ARGGGGGG-UGH." He hit the crow's nest.

 _Oh hey! Personal record!_

I heard a bunch of mumbled words float down the mast. I am willing to bet that none of those words are nice. Doesn't matter though, it got the job done.

With a job well done, we sat down and admired our work.

-/\\-/\\-

We are now going straight into a storm, on the order of our greedy navigator and our stupid moron of a captain.

"RYUKI! KEEP A TIGHT HOLD ON THE SAIL, A STRONG GUST IS COMING!" Said navigator shouted at me.

I grunted out a response and tuck on the sail. Nami barked out a bunch of orders to all of us, and we're all listening to her. No one wants to drown after all.

After an hour of struggling, we got through the storm and finally reached the island.

"WAHOOOO. TREASURE ISLAND!" Luffy screamed like a moron.

"Finally." Zoro grunted annoyingly.

"We're finally here! Let's find the treasures. Let's go go go!" Luffy ran off excited.

"Alright, let's go." Usopp cheered and ran after him.

"Hey, you two! Wait for us!" Zoro grabbed onto the morons, keeping them in place.

Nami sighed:

"Why do those two have to be such morons?!" Then she turned to me and reluctantly asked, "Ryuki, are you ok?"

You see, Luffy is a huge glutton, I'm sure everyone knows that. So, true to his nature, he was sneaking food a while back.

Right before we encountered the storm, Luffy got into one of the fruit crates. He left the crate in favor of keeping the ship afloat. Because of how sudden the event was, he didn't secure the crate back into its place.

During the commotion, the ship was popping up and down; the crate was thrown everywhere and eventually flew out of the storage. It crashed into one of us, aka, me. And so, I got covered in mango juice.

Back to the present, I took a deep breath:

"I'm fine. I just need to clean up. Why don't you guys go explore? I'll stay here and protect the ship. Also, bring back some water and fruits." I smiled.

"If you say so." Nami reluctantly turned away.

They got two spare barrels from the storage and left. I went to take a shower. The sweet smell of mango was giving me a headache.

Afterward, I changed into my last clean shirt and pants.

 _I swear I have more than ten set of clothes and I did laundry last week. How the fuck did everything got dirty so fast? Oh, right, dinner with Luffy, spars with Zoro, and mango. Ugh, I might actually have to go shopping._

Just the thought sent shivers down my spine as the memories of my younger days came back. _So many hours, so much walking, so much clothes, so much changing._

I shook out the shivers and went back to the laundry.

I was mediating at my usual spot (the other side of the mast from the boys' door) when I heard Luffy:

"HEYYYYYYY, RYUUUUUU, COME DOWNNNNNN!"

With a sign, I stood up and walked to the railing.

"Hey guys. How was the expedition?" I asked as I threw down the rope. Then I vault myself over the railing.

"It went great, we found a new friend!" Luffy grinned.

I look behind Luffy. There's a dude with green afro in a treasure chest and a bunch of odd hybrid animals hiding behind the tree lines.

"Hello there, I'm Ryuki, the quartermaster, who are you?" I asked the old dude.

"Ah, I'm Gaimon, guardian of this forest." He answered.

"Shi shi shi. He's really cool. He has a bunch of animal friends, too." Luffy laughed.

"Huh. Is he joining us?" I asked.

"No, he's not. He's staying to protect the animals." Zoro answered.

"Now hurry up guys, we're leaving." Usopp said.

"Hoist the sails!" Nami ordered.

"AHHHH, WAIT, WE'RE NOT ON YET!" Luffy screamed.

"Oh shit! She's leaving us." I panicked. "Why the hell did you tell me to come down?!"

"Cause I thought you were lonely!" Luffy picked his nose.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT!" I kicked him up onto the ship and jumped up as well.

With just a tad bit chaos, we managed to set sail and wave goodbye to Gaimon at the same time.

-/\\-/\\-

"Ryuki? Where's your gi?" Nami asked.

"It's drying still. Why?" I inquired.

"No reason." She answered.

"She's just puzzled since you always wear one." Usopp supplied.

"Oh."

…

…

…

"You know, you look really good without your gi." Zoro piped up.

"What?" I did a spit-take.

Everyone stare at him, hard.

"I said, you don't need your gi to be manly. You already look like one." He smirked.

…

…

…

"Bastard." Was probably the last thing he heard before I kicked him off of Merry. Then I left to collect my laundry. Behind me, Usopp and Luffy screamed about man over board.

-/\\-/\\-

 **Me: WAHHHHHHH. I MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCCHHHHHHHH! T.T**

 **Ryuki: For gods' sake, stop crying. And get off of me!**

 **Me: But but but!**

 **Ryuki: No buts. It's Q & A with-not-actual-questions time!**

 **Me: OH YAYYYY.**

 **Ryuki: The first one comes from a "guest"! "chapter 15 is completely dead" they said.**

 **Me: What? Wait, what? The heck? Which one? Can someone tell me the title of the previous chapter of the dead one? I can't find it.**

 **Ryuki: Please do. Haru's already bald enough; don't want her to rip off the rest of her hair now.**

 **Me: I am not bald. I just have a tall forehead.**

 **Ryuki: Sure sure, whatever you say. Next one is from another "guest". Wait, is this the same person?**

 **Me: Uhhhhhhh.**

 **Aliahra: Just hang on mate.**

 **Me: HOLY NINJAS.**

 **Ryuki: *face-palm* Moving on. They gave us two points. One: "Usopps' mom had a small pointed nose. He got his nose from his father."**

 **Me: Actually, Usopp's mom have a slightly long nose, Yasopp have a normal nose. We checked.**

 **Ryuki: Two: "Kuina is the one to tell Zoro that girls can be great swordsman as well, and it was originally her dream to be the greatest before she died, not the other way around."**

 **Me: This one you have a point. It started out as a challenged from Kuina, Zoro accepted. So technically, he also challenged her.**

 **Ryuki: Haizzz. Just say it's your mistake, dude.**

 **Me: Ugh. Well, I did remember this one wrong, sooooooooooo. I'm so sorry.**

 **Aliahra: I'm also sorry; I am her Beta so I should have noticed it.**

 **Ryuki: Yeah. Well, that's that. Good day everyone.**


	19. Chapter 18: Old friends, New friends

"These are conversations"

And these are Ryuki's narrations

 **Hello my beloved readers! I present to you, chapter 18. PS: Seriously, do I still need to do this? I don't own One Piece.**

-/\\-/\\-

Once again, we are sailing around aimlessly. The sky is clear and blue. The sea is calm and gentle. Nami was navigating, Zoro was sleeping, Usopp was tinkering, and I'm meditating. It's a perfectly peaceful day on the Merry.

BOOOOOM!

Or so I thought.

"What the hell?!" Zoro asked startled.

"AHH. Enemy attack!" Usopp screamed.

"What is going on?" Nami asked.

We found Luffy next to a smoking cannon. I had forgotten that Luffy must have a supervisor at all times.

"Gods damn it." I face-palmed, "What are you doing, Luffy?"

He looked at us innocently:

"Huh? I'm testing out the cannon."

"My gods, can't you at least tell us beforehand?" I massaged my temple.

"You suck." Usopp said.

"That's not the point." Zoro scold him.

"Here, let Usopp-sama show you how it's done." Usopp took over control of the cannon.

"Yeah, whatever." Nami left to the kitchen.

Zoro and I followed her. We heard another boom and something crumbing somewhere far away. At least they're not causing trouble.

 _Why does it feel like I'm forgetting something? Shit, that's not good. That feeling is never good. Ugh, what am I forgetting?_

I continued to ponder while absentmindedly making our lunch. It's my turn after all. I kept trying to remember well after we finished with eating lunch.

 _Let's see, cannon, random rock, cannon, random rock? Ummmm, sword, cannon… Wait, sword? Swords. Swords? East Blue + swords = Zoro. Zoro? Huhh? Zoro = pirate hunter. Pirate hunters? AH! The Hunter Duo!_

I realized a little too late. There was crashing noise on the deck and someone yelling.

"You bastards! I know you're here! Come out! I'll kill you all!"

Luffy went to check out the commotion, saw the dude smashing up Merry and knocked him out. But, Luffy made another hole in Merry's frame.

"Luffy, please refrain from damaging Merry when you're trying to protect her. That's counterproductive." I said.

"So, who's the idiot? Oh? Johnny?" Zoro came out.

"Zoro-aniki?" The named Johnny asked, bewildered.

After the two old friends talked and sorted things out, we moved the sick Yosaku who just got blown up on board.

I took one look at him and knew what he needed. Seriously, if I think about it, these two should be stupid enough to get scurvy. They're somewhat near Luffy's level, if that's even possible.

After Nami berated the guys, I left to get the lemons. Afterwards, I squeezed about five of them directly into Yosaku's mouth.

Five seconds later, Yosaku jumped up:

"I'm alive!"

"You're alive!" Johnny shouted excited.

"You don't get cured that fast!" Nami screamed at the two dancing morons.

Then, they posed:

"It's a little late, but let us introduce ourselves. I'm Johnny." Johnny announced.

"I'm Yosaku. And together," Yosaku continued.

"We're the pirate hunte…" I cut them off.

I grabbed Yosaku's face with an Iron Claw and slammed him onto the floor. I smile brightly at him:

"Stay down. Please."

He shivered and stilled. _I might be mistaken, but was that fear in his eyes?_

I turned to Johnny and smiled at him too. Then I patted the spot next to Yosaku:

"Lay down. And open your mouth."

He obediently did what I asked, and I squeezed five lemons down his throat.

"Now rest." I told them.

"Let's get them inside." I told my crewmates.

They stood there frozen for some reason.

"Guys?" I quirk an eyebrow.

That got them moving.

We moved the moron duo to the kitchen and let them rest there. Then I had to go make dinner since the gluttons multiplied to three.

"You know, I think we need one more crew member." I said.

"Yeah, from what we've learned from those two, we do." Usopp agreed while pointing at the pirate hunters.

"Well, we do need to fill that position." Zoro claimed.

"We do have quite the place, too." Nami added.

"Yosh! Let's get a sea cook!" Luffy declared.

We cheered. Johnny interjected:

"If you guys are looking for a cook, we know a good place."

"Oh? Let's go there!" Luffy decided.

-/\\-/\\-

Right now, I am in the process of laughing my ass off.

After deciding that we needed a cook, we set sail for the floating restaurant Baratie. As soon as we got near our destination, marines showed up and fired at us. Luffy deflected it towards said restaurant. Now he has to work as a bus boy to pay up.

One thing led to another, we ended up witnessing a few fights: chef vs. marine, Luffy vs. chef, and a chef vs. pirate. The chefs won all three battles.

We ordered food while Luffy disappeared somewhere. Later, we ended up making fun of him while eating the food. To retaliate, he dropped a booger into Zoro's drink. I had quite the hard time trying to hold in my laughter. I gave up when Zoro forced said contaminated drink down Luffy's throat.

Suddenly, a blond haired man with a really curly eyebrow and stubble in a suit appeared. He was kneeling and offering a red, sparkling rose to Nami:

"Oh Mother Ocean, thank you for arranging this encounter today! Oh my love! Go on, laugh at me. I, who can't bear torture, as long as I'm with you, it matters not if I'm a pirate or a devil…" His only visible eye turned into a heart, "My heart's ready as can be!"

Our laughter died awhile back. Right now, I have goose bumps all over. A mixture of grimace and relief settle on my face. The grimace is because the dude's line is soooooo cheesy. The relief is because he doesn't seem to notice I'm also a girl. For the first time in this life, I'm glad I look like a guy. Although, I have a sneaking suspicion that this is Sanji, our future chef. There is only one person I know, or remember, with this kind of personality.

"But this is horrible!" He stood up suddenly, "There's such a great obstacle between us!"

Thud.

"The obstacle is me, right? Sanji." An old chef replied.

"Geh, the old fart." Sanji grimaced.

"This is just great. Why don't you run of and join them? We don't need you here anymore!" The old man declared.

 _Wahhhhh. What is this? Why did the situation become tensed all of a sudden? Can we go back to the hilarity of messing with Luffy, please?_

 _No? Dammit._

The argument between the two chefs intensified into an actual fight. Well, not really, the old man just flipped Sanji onto our table. We saved the food, of course, can't waste the food.

Sanji declared that he won't leave while the old man walked away.

"Alright then." Sanji returned the table to its place.

Then within seconds, he placed a glass of fruit in front of Nami, while pouring her a drink over her shoulder.

"Please pardon me for what has happened." He flirted with Nami, "As an apology, I've ordered you a Fruit Macedonia, my princess."

"Why thank you. You're so kind." Nami cheered cutely.

"It's nothing." Sanji replied gallantly.

My goose bumps came back with vengeance. I shuddered.

"What's this? You're not apologizing to us?" Usopp got mad, "I'll sue you, you love cook!"

"I've brought you some tea, isn't that enough?" Sanji retaliated, "You should thank me, long nose."

"Huh? Picking a fight? I won't go easy on you!" Usopp turned to Zoro, "Get him, Zoro!"

"Get him yourself." Zoro rejected.

To stop the fight from escalating, Nami looked at Sanji with puppy eyes:

"Please, don't fight over me!"

"Very well, ma'am. I'll stop." Sanji's eye became a heart again.

"Who's fighting over you?!" Usopp's teeth sharpened.

"By the way," Nami ignored Usopp, "the food here is great, but it's a bit expensive for me."

"You don't have to pay, ma'am." Sanji declared with hearts in his eye, "But you morons do." He pointed at us.

"I saw that one coming but still." Zoro sweat dropped.

"Uwah, harsh." I commented.

Then I regretted opening my mouth, because Sanji is now staring at me. After staring at me with confusion, a heart, then doubt, he finally says:

"Well, I suppose you could pay half-price. But just you!"

I don't know if I should be scared or amazed with Sanji. While he can't be sure I'm a girl, he does suspect it. No one else has ever figured it out, ever. Heck, even Kai and Hitomi had to be told!

Luffy laughed in his seat next to me. Right up till Sanji knocked him out with a hook kick:

"Hey, what are you slacking off here for?" and proceeded to drag him off.

We sweat dropped as we watched their retreating backs.

-/\\-/\\-

It's been four days since we got to the restaurant. It's also been four days since Luffy got stuck being bus boy. And we're covered in fog.

Usopp has completely lost his patience.

"I'm fed up with this place. How soon do you think we can leave?" He asked.

"Beats me." Zoro replied.

"You don't think he'll really be stuck here for a year, do you?" Usopp asked again.

"Isn't that fine? We've got free food and a cozy atmosphere." Nami answered.

"You're the only one!" I retorted.

Just then, we spot Luffy carrying stuff around the corner.

"Hey Luffy! What's up with you? Hurry up and get out of this mess!" Usopp demanded.

"Can't you guys wait just a bit longer? I'll try to talk to the boss again!" Luffy whined.

"Please do!" Usopp begged.

Suddenly, I spot a ship on the horizon. As it gets closer, I can tell that the ship is huge, at least ten times the size of Merry. It has a panther figure head and flies a black flag and skull with two hourglasses. But, that's not what I'm concerned about. It's the state of the ship. Almost half of the figure head was gorged out and there are cracks so big, it threatened to create a reenactment of the Titanic.

"Hey, we oughta get out of here, guys!" Usopp panicked.

"The ship is huge!" Nami freaked out.

Zoro simply stared at it.

I clutched my neck. _The ship gives off a familiar atmosphere to me._ It's scary and dangerous, but at the same time, not. It makes the spot between my collarbones throb. _Strange._

We watched as a man walked onto the deck of the giant ship and then disappear into the restaurant.

Minutes of silent later, the restaurant doors were flung open, and people stream out in panic.

"O-oi. Wha-what's going on in there?" Usopp asked.

"Let's go check it out." Zoro suggested.

"What?! Are you serious?" Usopp jumped.

"What's wrong? You scared?" Zoro taunted.

"Ugh. Don't be silly!" Usopp denied.

"Heh." Then Zoro glanced at the ship and turned to me. "Hey, stop staring at it and let's go."

"Ah? Ok." I tore my sight away from the ship and followed them.

Halfway to the restaurant's back door, I stopped:

"Guys, go on without me."

"Is something wrong?" Zoro asked.

"Nothing, I just want to be here in case they" I flicked my head at the giant ship, "decide to add our stiff to their collection."

"Fair enough. We'll fill you in later." Usopp said and left after Zoro.

I returned to our ship. However, as my gut keeps telling me to, I snuck on board instead. Then, I decided to climb up the crow's nest and hide there.

-/\\-/\\-

I nearly lost my cover when Johnny and Yosaku had their "accident". I struggled to hold in my laughter as the image of a certain whiskered blond and a certain duck-butt jumped to my mind.

However, my amusement turned to worry when Nami didn't react even the slightest. The fake smile that she had when she turned around didn't help any.

Then, I found the proof that my gut was right.

Noticing that Nami was being weird, the hunter duo approached her.

"What's up Nami-aneki?" Yosaku asked Nami, "You've been staring at that bounty list for a while now."

"Oh! It's nothing!" Nami laughed.

"Oh?" Johnny leaned in, "That's our Nami-aneki! You've chosen the most valued pirate! But, it'd be best not to target Arlong alone. Not only is he fierce but he's also strong!"

 _Arlong? Isn't he that fishman pirate that hangs around in this Blue?_

"There was a time when he remained quiet." He continued.

"But, I've heard that he's been moving around lately." Yosaku cut in, "Well, the 20 million Beli reward sure is tempting."

 _20 million? Isn't that a bit low? I mean, he's from the Grand Line, so-_

"But he's too strong that even we can easily get butchered by him." Johnny confessed.

 _Uhhh. Considering how you two lost to Lieutenant what's-his-face, I'm pretty sure anyone with a bounty higher than 10 thousand could butcher you._

Anyway, Nami stayed silent, prompting the duo to turn around. I searched for Nami too, stealthily, of course.

We found her putting down a shirt on the railing.

"Excuse me, but I'd like to change for a sec, could you two turn around?" She tuck on the collar of the shirt she's been wearing.

"EH! W-wait! Here?! Right now?!" They asked.

"Can't I?" Nami said with a sultry voice and wink at them.

"Please! By all means!" They turned around and stood at attention.

I sat back from the edge of the crow's nest and look up to the blue sky.

 _That woman, does she have any shame? Right, of course not._

I let out an exasperated, soundless, laugh.

"UWAHHHH!"

I bolted straight up. Nami was standing where the hunter duo was seconds ago, while the sea in front of her bubbled.

 _Geh. Did she catch those two trying to sneak a peek?_

The two broke though the water surface:

"Wha-what are you doing?" Johnny shouted.

"'What?' You ask?" Nami leaned on the railing, "Business of course! I'm a thief that steals from pirates. So I'll be taking this ship."

I'm speechless. So were Johnny and Yosaku.

"I don't recall saying that I was one of them. I was merely cooperating. Although it was a rather short relationship with Luffy and the gang, I enjoyed it. Tell them that for me. Well, if we're meant to, we'll meet again!"

And she sailed away.

I can hear the hunter brothers shouting after us. I really want to help them, especially when the giant ship got sliced into half. However, I stayed hidden, I've gotten this far, there's no way am I flying off this ship the same way they did.

-/\\-/\\-

"They're really nice people. Next time we meet, I wonder if they'll let me join them again?" Nami asked no one.

I lean on the mast, away from sight as I listen to Nami.

"Will I even get a chance?" She cried, "I want to be free! Bellemere-san!"

At that moment, I decided on two things. One: crying does not fit Nami. Two:

 **Arlong is going to pay.**

-/\\-/\\-

 **Me: Hey guys! Sorry this one took so long, I had to deal with a crisis known as writer's block. I just couldn't figure out how to deal with this part.  
**

 **Aliahra:** **Anyway, today's leader will be me since Ryuki is in hiding! First of: KnightOfGlory26's question: "just wanna ask but Is the MC like tomo from the manga tomo-chan?"**

 **Me: OH MY GODS! It's Ryuki With actual SPECS and a crush!**

 **Aliahra: You're hyperventilating. Breath.**

 **Me: But but but! It's RYUKI! With SPECS! and a CRUSH!**

 **Aliahra: Ehhhh. I don't know, I haven't read that one yet.**

 **Me: Well I did, right after it was asked. I was curious.**

 **Aliahra: And I don't have that curiosity. Next is PowerSpirit's question "Whats the point in her watching one piece if she doesn't even remember it?"**

 **Me: There are perfectly good reasons for that, but I cannot tell you that yet. As always, all will be answered in time.**

 **Aliahra: That all the question we have for now.**

 **Me: Yay! Well thanks for all the comments! and we'll see you guys later!**

 **Aliahra: Stay tune for more of Ryuki's suffereing!**


	20. Chapter 19: the Rat and the Fish

"These are conversations"

And these are Ryuki's narrations

 **Hello my beloved readers! Chapter 19 is up! PS: This will be the last time I say this, since I'm sure we all know this by now. I don't own One Piece!**

-/\\-/\\-

It took a surprisingly short time for us to reach Nami's destination. It hasn't been more than three hours since we set off and less than two since I finally figured out whose ass I need to kick, but I can already spot the island we're heading. Technically, Nami is heading there and I'm just tagging along, but that's beside the point.

The most noticeable point of the island is the Pagoda like structure with a … is that a saw tooth shark head? With a black flag tied to the nose? Ugh. I'm going to guess that that's where Arlong is.

Nami headed the ship in the opposite direction to Arlong's and docked at the side of an orange farm. From my spot on the crow's nest, I can see that there's a small house on the edge of the trees, there's also a small village nearby too.

Nami gathered everything valuable from the ship and stuffed them into a bag. She then got off the ship and headed to the small house.

"Nojiko?" She called.

No one answered.

 _Who's Nojiko? She sounds familiar._

Nami headed off after checking the house a bit more. It seems that whoever Nojiko is, she's not home.

As soon as Nami was out of sight, I jumped off the crow's nest. I really needed get my blood flowing again.

A couple of stretches later, I got off Merry and headed into the farm house. The house was small, cozy, and a bit plain.

 _Maybe I should wait here. I might meet this Nojiko, and Nami might return here too._

I pulled out a chair next the window and sit down. My eyes lingered on the picture frame on the table.

It was of a woman and two children. The woman has an interesting hair style: dark red Mohawk with a ponytail. One of the children has blue hair with the bangs being held back with a red bandana. The other child has short, orange hair. It was definitely Nami, even though she looked so normal. All three of them were hugging and smiling brightly at the camera. It was quite endearing.

I pulled out of my own musing and look out to the green and orange color of the trees. I have to admit that it's really calming here.

Suddenly, I saw a wisp of light blue. The same color that I expected from a special mist, the same one that I've come to associate with the one thing that always reminds me "I'm not normal". It was the blue mist of the Strangers.

I stood up so fast, my chair was knocked over. I spun in place, grab the chair and flung it back into its place. Then I dashed out the door.

 _This farm is most likely owned by Nojiko and Nami if her familiarity with this place is anything to go by. With how Nami only called out to Nojiko, that Stranger could only be Bellemere. I need to talk to her; she should be able to give me more information than I can get on my own right now._

After frantically running and searching through the farm, I finally found the person I was looking for. Bellemere turns out to be the red-headed lady from the picture. The fact that she looks exactly the same as her picture, which was taken when Nami was a child, boils my blood. After all, the dead can't grow old.

I shook that thought out and walked towards the woman that was inspecting an orange.

"Excuse me ma'am?" I asked politely.

She ignored me.

"Ma'am?" I asked again.

I'm still ignored.

…

…

"Miss Bellemere?" I tried again.

This time, she stiffed up. Then finally, she turned to face me.

"You…can see me?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am, I can." I answered.

Bellemere stared at me for a minute. She seemed wary of me. The glare that the woman in front of me possesses is seriously no joke. In my twenty-three years of life, I've never seen anything scarier. At long last she speaks:

"Who are you? And what is it that you want?" She demanded.

"I'm Nami's friend, ma'am. And," I faltered a bit since the stare got even worse.

 _Damn, if she was still alive, I don't think Arlong would live very long._

"I want to know if I can help her." I managed to not let out a whimper.

"And how would I know if you're not really Arlong's croon? Hmmm?" She sneered

"I'm not a fishman." I replied.

"So is Nami." She defended.

"I've never met the bastard before." I stated.

"Really?" She drawled.

 _To think that she would even suggest that I would work for that stupid displaced walking sashimi fish, I am not amused._

Fueled by anger, I stare straight back at Bellemere and started a staring contest, which lasted about five seconds and ended abruptly when Bellemere grinned.

"You pass."

 _What?_

My face must have betrayed my thoughts.

"You're not lying. I can tell." She explained, "It's the perk of raising two children."

"Uhhhhhh." I'm confused.

"Still, I'm so glad she finally found a friend who would come for her." She smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome? I'm not the only one though, our crew is coming." I smiled back.

"Crew?" She asked.

"Yeah, we're a pirate crew." I told her.

She burst out laughing.

"HAHAHAHA, NAMI! PIRATE! HAHAHAHA. Ohhh the irony." She wiped a tear.

"Irony? Why?"

And so we sat down, Bellemere told me the story of Nami's childhood. The more I hear it, the more I want Luffy to smash Arlong's face in. Seriously, the bastard killed a mother in front of her kids. Ok, re-word, the bastard killed Bellemere in front of Nojiko and NAMI. He even had the guts to kidnap Nami and abuse her! When Luffy is done with him, I will dance on grave!

 _Wait, but Luffy doesn't kill his opponents, does he? I do remember someone said something about him wanting to make his enemies see their dreams being destroyed. Tch, if it's true, then I'll deal with Arlong and then dance on his grave._

"You know, Nami made a deal with Arlong back then, a stupid deal that has consumed her life." Bellemere said. "She would gather 100 million beli and Arlong would sell the village to her."

"That's a bad deal. There's no guarantee that the fishy bastard would keep his promise. He's a pirate!" I commented.

"I know. But she was sure it would work. She's been going out and stealing money for eight years now." Bellemere recounted. "There were times she would come back battered and bruised. Others were she would barely be able to walk. It breaks my heart to see her like that, every single time."

I laid a hand on her shoulder, and we sat in silence.

"The only good news is that she's almost done! She almost has that 100 million beli that she needs now!" Bellemere cheered up.

"Really? That's great." I cheered. "Wait, how do you know?"

"Well, she piled them all into one spot, right next to you." She pointed to my left.

I look at the spot of dirt that obviously had been dug up recently.

"She's not very good at hiding things, is she?" I deadpanned.

"Uh huh." Bellemere agreed.

Then, I got a brilliant idea.

"I know that look. You just got a naughty idea, didn't you?" Bellemere poked me.

"Yup. And it will be glorious." I replied.

"Well, have fun. I'm going to head out and check up on Nami." She turned away, "Also, just call me Bellemere. 'Miss' makes me feel old."

"Roger." I gave her a half-hearted salute.

 _Let's see, first, I need pen and paper. There should some on the ship._

I searched Merry for the supplies. I might have ransacked Nami's table a bit. But hey, I'm sure she'll understand. I also had to go get another piece of special equipment that is missing from its usual spot. _Did the boys take it out? Maybe if I check their room._

So, I head for the boy's room. I had a change of plans when I see a little boy walking out of the small house. I can also see a splash of blue through the window.

 _Hmmmmm. Looks like the Nojiko girl got home while I was searching around. Well, might as well say hello._

I was about to knock on the door when:

"Nami is an officer of that gang?!" Usopp blasted out from inside the house.

 _Oh hey, it's Usopp. Looks like the guys are here._

I moved to the window and sat down under its ledge. Might as well listen to the story, right?

"Yes. Everyone knows. That kid was talking about her too, the witch-like woman." A female voice said, I'm guessing that's Nojiko. "Here's another surprise. This is the place where that witch was raised."

"Ueh?" Usopp sputtered.

"Nami and I were foster sisters." She paused, "Both of us were orphans, we grew up here. Though our mother who raised us has died, the three of us used to live happily, here in Cocoyashi Village."

"You mean to tell me that she betrayed her mom and friends to join Arlong's gang?" Usopp asked, incredulous.

"Yeah. That's about right. Isn't she just the witch?" Nojiko answered.

"Damn, now I get it. She was just after our loot! She even helped protect my village. She even laughed as if she was enjoying herself on the ship! But, she's been deceiving us from the start!" Usopp huffed out angrily.

"Not really." I spoke up. I just can't help it.

Loud gasps were heard. Also chair scraping wooden floor accompanied by a thud. Sounds like Usopp just hit the floor.

Seconds later, the window above me was opened, and a blue-haired woman stared down at me.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"A friend." I craned my neck back to look up at her.

"Really now? I don't remember having any friends with that hair color." She retorted.

"Well. We can start now." I offered her a smile.

"You can't charm me, boy." She snarled.

"Ryuki! Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you!" Usopp cut in.

"Hey Usopp. I've been here and there." I said.

"Your friend?" Nojiko asked Usopp.

"Oh, yeah. Nojiko, this is Ryuki, one of my crewmates. Ryuki, this is Nojiko, Nami's sister." Usopp introduced us.

"Hello." I called out.

"Hello." She narrowed her eyes at me. "What did you mean?"

"Um? Mean what?" I relaxed against the wall.

"Earlier. When you said 'not really'" She inquired.

"Oh, that? Well, Nami has always been quite adamant about how we're only partners and what not. She has never admitted to be one of us or even friends. She also told us before that she's a thief that steals from pirates. So technically, she didn't really betray us, we just being stupid." I reply.

"Besides, I don't think witches can cry." I added with a whisper.

Even though I can't see behind me, I can tell that my last comment made Nojiko shifted.

Suddenly, Usopp gasped. _That doesn't sound good._

"I just remember. A mate of mine has been unfortunately caught by the mermen." Usopp squeaked out.

"Wait, who?" I stood up and faced him.

"Zoro! He was injured! So we tied him up to keep him from moving! And then the fishmen came and we had to escape! And, and, …" he freaked out.

"Usopp, calm down, you're starting to hyperventilate." I soothed him, "And Zoro is strong. He'll be fine."

-/\\-/\\-

We managed to convince Nojiko to take us to the town. We'll figure out our options afterward. But once again, my plan had to be changed.

When we get to the village, Nojiko abruptly pulled us to the side of a building. She hushed us and pointed out toward the center of the village.

There, sitting on the bench under an umbrella in the middle of the road, is a man covered in scars. He looked like he jumped through a blender. He wore a black military outfit with shorts instead of pants. On top of his hat was a spin-wheel. But, he's not the problem. It was the creatures standing next to him.

The fishmen all have strange skin colors, ranging from blue to pink and all the other colors under the rainbow. They are all really, really big. Almost all of them are over 8feet tall!

That's not what makes them strange though, it's the way their skins were covered in scales. There are layers of scales anywhere you look, from their hands to their face. What's worse is that the scales reflect sunlight slightly, making them look like they freaking shine in the sun.

The first thing that I can relate these guys to is vampires, strangely enough. Shiny vampires. The thought makes my blood boil for odd reasons. I … seem to have a prejudice for shiny vampires. That's … weird.

"He's huge! That's Arlong?!" Usopp stuttered. "He's no human alright!"

"Well, he is a fishman." Nojiko pointed out.

"Right." Usopp squeaked.

I ignored Usopp in favor of listening to the walking shark talk about his plan to dominate the East Blue. Honestly, he's kind of stupid. I mean, sure he's strong. He came from the Grand Line, for gods' sake. But is he seriously that ignorant? I mean, there's no way the Marine would let that happens. They might be corrupted and full of morons, but if their power is not something to sneeze at, either. What if they send a Shichibukai? He'll be dead in five seconds flat!

Then the misplaced fish decided to kill the old man. Nojiko ran out to stop Arlong.

Sadly, there was nothing she could do. If one of them raises a hand against a fishman, the whole village will be destroyed! They all know that. The old man, Genzo I think is what he's called, also knows that. He told everyone to not do anything.

Arlong picked up the old man and raised him above his head, preparing to slam him into the ground. I was about to jump out and catch the old man when…

"KAYAKUBOSHI!"

Fire exploded on Arlong's face. Due to either the pain or surprise, he dropped the old man, which is a relief. However, if I heard the attack right, Usopp is in so much trouble.

And I was right. Usopp stood on top of a building, declaring him to be the "Great Captain Usopp" as he puts it. His charade didn't last very until an enraged Arlong ripped the house he was on and threw it! Usopp survived by jumping to another house. He freaked out and ran away.

Too angry to think, Arlong ordered the other fishmen to go after Usopp, completely forgetting about Genzo and the other villagers.

I waited until the fishmen are gone and everything calm down before a walked out from behind the buildings

"Are you not going to help him?" Nojiko saw me.

"Nahhhh. He can handle himself. Besides, I have something that still needs to be taken care of." I gave her a small wave and left.

First stop: Merry.

 _Now, where was I? Ah yes, the boys' room._

I stepped down the ladder and look around. My eyes landed on a corner that I will assume belongs to Usopp. There was a shovel, a hammer, and so many more trinkets.

 _I need to talk to him about hoarding thing. At least I found what I need._

Next stop: the farm.

 _HOLY HADES, WTF?_

I nearly had a heart attack when I Bellemere suddenly clamped her hand on my mouth and dragged me behind a bush.

"Shhhhhh. Nami is here." She hushed.

 _Oh. Well, that would have been bad._

I hid in that bush until Bellemere gave me the ok. Then with lightning fast movements, I rushed to the exact spot that I need to be. I couldn't help but grin as I begin my plan.

"Just so you know. You have a really creepy smile on your face." Bellemere commented.

My smile was wiped off just like that. I wrote down what I wanted to and left the paper there.

 _And a job well done. Now, what to do next? Knowing Zoro, he probably escaped, raised a bit of hell while he was at it, and is now completely and utterly lost. I still don't understand how he got lost on the Merry. Eh, I suppose I can go look for him._

-/\\-/\\-

-Found the crew, left with Luffy but split up to check up on the project. Found Nezumi who just shot Nojiko. Nami ran off, Ryuki beat the shit out of the rat. Found Nami sitting on the ground with a bloody shoulder. Clean her up in silence and ran to catch up to the group. "Sorry I'm late; I had to exterminate some rat."-

I wandered around aimlessly until I found a weird track that ran across the forest. It's as if someone ran a ship through the forest.

…

…

I know someone who would do that. Resisting the urge the face-palm, I follow the track away from the ocean. Sure enough, I found the wreckage of said ship and fresh sets of footprint.

I follow the road that the foot print led to and came face-to-face with the hunter duo.

"Ryu-aniki?" They called out.

"Johnny? Yosaku? Damn, it's good to finally found one of you guys. Where's everyone else?" I asked.

"They're just down the road." Johnny pointed.

"It was nice to see you Ryu-aniki." Yosaku said.

"We've got to go, now. Goodbye and stay safe!" They said and walk passed me.

 _Is it just me? Or they sounded kind of pissed? Oh! It's the guys! Zoro, Sanji and Luffy!_

"Hey guys!" I called out.

Then I felt someone charging at me from behind. By reflex, I twisted around and grab the offending person, then flung them away. At that exact moment, Sanji screamed something about Nami not being flat and kick Zoro, who swung his sword up in retaliation. Unfortunately for Usopp, who I just realized was the person I grabbed, he got thrown right in the middle of their path.

"Geh." The three of us cringed at the moaning Usopp.

"He's still alive?" Zoro asked.

"Nah, I think he's dead now." Sanji replied.

"Oops." I added.

-/\\-/\\-

"USOPP! DID NAMI DO THIS TO YOU?!" Luffy screamed while shaking the dead-looking Usopp.

"Sorry, that was us." Sanji admitted.

"No, it was you two." I corrected.

"You threw him our way!" Zoro snarled.

"Luffy? You're here?" Usopp wheezed out.

"Yeah, a little while back." Luffy replied.

"Ah. I'm here too, nice to meet you!" Sanji greeted cheerfully.

That pissed Usopp off. He jumped up and got right into Sanji's face.

"You bastard. I'll kill you someday. And you!" He growled at me, "You left me to fend for myself!"

"Hey, you're still fine after all that!" I grinned.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Usopp looked about to pop a vein.

"Oh yeah, you were killed by Nami, right?" Zoro asked.

"Eh?" Usopp and I were surprised.

"Damn him, Johnny was lying after all." Luffy stood up, pissed.

"No, actually…there is some truth to that." Usopp said, "More like, it's the opposite. Nami saved my life."

Usopp recounted to us the story of how he got caught be the fishmen and how Nami stabbed herself to save him.

"I think there's a reason for her to be with the fishmen pirates." Usopp concluded.

"Of course." Sanji agreed.

"So what do we do now?" I asked.

"Rush Arlong Park?" Zoro suggested.

"Hold on! Before that, we should ask Nami for a better explanation!" Usopp reasoned.

"Either way, it's useless." A female voice sounded out.

We turned around and there stood a blue-haired girl that I've met earlier today.

"No matter what you guys do, Arlong's reign won't end." She continued.

"Nojiko!" Usopp called.

"Who's that?" Luffy asked.

"That's Nami's sister." I replied.

"Nami-san's sister!?" Sanji got replaced his eye with a heart. "As expected, she's so pretty!"

"What do you mean 'it's useless'?" Zoro ignored him.

"Do us a favor. Don't meddle with this village's business anymore. Leave Nami alone." Nojiko demanded, "I'll tell you the reason why."

"You mean why Nami stay with the fishmen?" I inquired.

"Yes. Once you hear the reason, you must leave this place." Nojiko stated.

"Alright, then tell us the reason or whatever." Usopp agreed.

"I'll pass." Luffy declared.

Then he walk passed Nojiko without any hesitation.

"I don't care about her past." He said.

"Oi, where are you going, Luffy?" Sanji called.

"A walk!" Luffy called back.

"What do you mean: a walk? You're not going to listen to the story?" Usopp asked incredulous.

"Yeah, I'll pass." Was the answer.

"Me too." I said.

"Wait, you too!?" Usopp turned to me.

"Yeah, I got something else to do." I gave them a wave a walk back to Cocoyashi.

 _I want to check up on my brilliant plan. If I'm lucky, I'll be there when_ she _found it!_

-/\\-/\\-

I had to take a small detour due to a trio of fishmen on the road. They didn't see me since they were so focused on Luffy. Lucky me.

Anyway, when I got to Cocoyashi, I headed straight for the orange farm. There, I found a sight that annoys me greatly.

Nami, Nojiko, and old man Genzo were among a bunch of marines. The head officer of the group was this weird dude with a hoodie that have two mouse ears on top. He has moustaches that look like whiskers which just make him look even more mouse-like.

"As government officials, we're just doing what's necessary to persecute thieves." He claimed.

 _Thieves? Oh shit, is he here for Nami's treasure? Damn bastard._

"You corrupt bastards!" Genzo shouted.

"How could the Marines stoop so low as to be pirate's lapdog!?" Nojiko accused.

And there's Nami. Nami looks like she wants to murder someone. Whether it's the rat in front of her or the pirate that sent him. Possibly both.

"IT'S HERE!" A random marine shouted.

The rat bastard didn't take too long to get to the spot and pull the box open.

Within the box that the Marine just uncovered was not the treasures that they expected. Instead, there was only one piece of paper.

The paper said:

'Hey cat burglar. I found a whole bunch of stuff here and I relocated them.

If you want them back, find me.

Your roommate,

HR.'

Everyone at the scene froze.

…

I seethed on the sideline, behind a bush.

 _Gods damn bastard, that's supposed to be for Nami!_

"What…What is the meaning of this?!" The rat-faced marine raged. "Search everywhere else, I want that 100 million beli found. Dig up the trees if you have to!"

That triggered something in Nami. She charged:

"Don't touch Bellemere's oranges!" She roared.

Genzo and Nojiko dashed after her.

Seeing Nami run toward him, the marine simply smirk and pulled out a gun. He pointed straight at Nami.

Genzo caught Nami wrist and slowed her down, giving Nojiko the chance to cut in front and pushed Nami back.

The marine pulled the trigger.

BANG!

I saw red. Nojiko has been shot.

"Chichichi. That's what you get for attacking a marine officer, girl." The rat bastard said.

I slammed my fist into his face.

The rest of the marine saw me and ran over. Every single marine who try to apprehend me was taken down with well-placed attack that would cause maximum pain. Less than five minutes, there were dislocated joints, broken bones, torn ligaments, and all kinds of others littered around me.

"What…you…" Genzo said.

"Get Nojiko to a doctor." I told him.

"You, what are you doing here!?" Nami snarled at me.

"Just get Nojiko to the damn doctor!" I snapped.

With little hesitation, Nami helped the old man carry Nojiko away.

I turned my attention back on a certain rat that's trying to crawl away. I have so much to vent. Especially on the little shit.

"And where do you think you're going?" I grab the back of his head.

"Hiiiiii. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Forgive me. Please!" He begged.

"No." I proceeded to repeatedly slam his head into the ground.

"You *Bam* think *Bam* I *Bam* would *Bam* let *Bam* you *Bam* get *Bam* away *Bam* with *Bam* what *Bam* you *Bam* just *Bam* did? *Bam*"

He fainted.

"Bastard, wake up. I'm not done with you!" I shook him.

He blearily opened his eyes.

"I just got started!" I growled.

-/\\-/\\-

 **Death: Hello everyone. I'm baaaaaack.**

 **Me: Whyyyyyyyyyyy? * groan***

 **Death: Because I haven't appeared for so lonnggggggg.**

 **Me: Uggggghhhh. Fine.**

 **Death: YAY. QUESTIONS! HEITOR! BUNCHA QUESTIONS!**

 **Me: Yeah. There's a lot. I kinda reeled back a bit at the moment I saw them. I've personally answered his questions already. But, I will answer them again in case one of you guys is also curious. They won't be very detailed, though. No spoilers.**

 **Death: YASSSsssssss. The pun. THE PUN!**

 **Me: Dude, are you drunk?**

 **Death: Yassssssssssssss.**

 **Aliahra: I thought so; this sudden craziness is very out of character. HEITOR really? What does that even mean?!**

 **Me: -_- Anyway, the part of Ryuki being a girl with actual girl parts is being considered even if I can't decide on anything, yet, since there are a few complications.**

 **Death: NEXxxxxxt. EPITHET**

 **Me: I can honestly say that the epithet had been chosen through the poll. Can't tell you guys what it is. Prince Charming was a joke from the beginning, so it's out. I have added Daredevil to the vote and up the vote limit to 4 so that everyone has a chance to consider it.**

 **Death: Filler arcssssss. LATER. MOVESSSS. NAMEEESSSSS.**

 **Me: Ryuki's attacks do have a naming theme, we are currently still trying to figure the kinks, but feel free to make wild guesses.**

 **Death: animegal1998 wants to know about this one, too.**

 **Me: Yeah. Wait, did you just sober up?**

 **Death: NOPE. RELATIONSHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPS.**

 **Me: *groan* Riiiiiight. Well, there is currently one ship being built within the story, it's called Nakama-ship. Seriously, they haven't known each other for nearly long enough. I do apologize that the part with Zoro gave out mixed signals. That was not supposed to be a cliché moment. It was a funny moment with Zoro being the dick that he is.**

 **Death: Lufffffffyyyyyyyyyyyyy. SMART? STUPID?**

 **Me: Now, Luffy's intelligence. I cannot tell you about this one. However, do expect us to confront this later in the story.**

 **Death: LAST. ARCSSSS**

 **Me: The filler arcs will be there. So will the Ryuki arc. Go and tell everyone the surprise, will you?**

 **Death: PANDAMAN!**

 **Me: WHAT?! WHERE?**

 **Death: NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

 **Me: ALRIGHT. THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DRUNK OFF YOUR ASS, GET TO BED! See you later, guys.**


	21. Chapter 20: the Fall of a Tyrant

"These are conversations"

And these are Ryuki's narrations

 **Hello my beloved readers! It's chapter 20! I'm really sorry about my irregular schedule. I'll try harder! Promise!**

-/\\-/\\-

It took me a while to vent and calm down. It has been quite a while since I've had an outburst of similar degree. But, with a certain helpful rat as a punching bag, I managed.

I took one final look at my work before running towards the village. I want to check up on Nojiko, Nami, and the old man.

When I got to the center of the village, Nami was the only one there. She sat in the middle of the road with a bleeding shoulder. I couldn't tell what kind of face she's making since a straw hat is obscuring it.

 _That looks like Luffy's straw hat. Oh! Shit! It's that scene! I missed it! Ahhhhh. Also, those morons. They left her bleeding in the middle of the street?!_

I un-equipped my gauntlets and walked toward Nami. I tore out strips of fabric off of my gi on the way, making sure to only get the clean part. The noise alerted Nami of my presence and she whipped her head to look at me.

I kneeled down next to her busted shoulder and used one of the fabrics to wipe clean the wound and use the other strip to wrap it. I did everything in silence, ignoring Nami's stare.

When I'm sure that Nami's not going to bleed to death, I stood up, pat her head, and walked toward Arlong Park. I'm fairly sure that's where everyone is headed. Nami didn't follow me, but I can still feel her stare on my back.

When I saw a giant cow appearing in the middle of the Park, I sped up into a full sprint.

"GOMU GOMU NOOOOOOOO SPINWHEELLLLLL." A shout came from my destination, accompanied by the giant cow flying off toward the ocean.

 _Oh shit. That must have been Luffy. I have a really bad feeling for some reason._

I hurried up even more.

-/\\-/\\-

From afar, I can make out the villagers crowding a section of the wall of Arlong Park, where I assume was once its gate. I can make out a blue skinned fishman standing among them. The situation seemed dangerous for the humans.

Suddenly, the fishmen's face burst into flame and he flew backward.

"Your opponent is ME." Usopp shouted from a few yard away.

"If you want to die so badly, I'll kill you right now!" the fishman shouted back and chased after Usopp, completely forgetting about the villagers.

 _Oh gods, the fighting has started. Please let me not be too late. Pleaseeeee._

I heard Luffy screamed as he draw a parabola line in the air with the block of cement on his feet and hit water.

 _Shit._

I wanted to go saved the captain; but unfortunately, another fishman came out from the former gate. He towered over the villagers and only wore a pair of white shorts and a black belt. His skin tone consisted of pink and white stripes from head to toe, giving him an odd and slightly disturbing rippled look. The more dangerous parts of him are the spikes protruding from his back and elbow.

"Chu is such an idiot. He forgot to deal with the rebels. Oh well, I can cover for him." He said and raised his hand to strike.

I did a marvelous flying jump kick to his face.

"DENIED!" I yelled out, just because.

"Ryu-aniki!" the hunter duo shouted happily.

"Ryuki!" Nojiko called behind me.

"Hey, hope I wasn't too late."

Everyone else gasped. I can see Zoro fighting a pink skinned fishman with six arms who uses swords, who I'm guessing is an octopus. Sanji was another fishman with grey skin who might be a stingray. On the far side, a blue skin fishman with saw-like nose sat smugly on the ground.

The fishman I kicked recovered and stood back up. His face held a perfect print of the sole of my combat boots.

"YOU!" He growled.

"Me!" I cheered.

"How dare you kick me?! How dare you harm my beautiful face, you worm!?" He roared.

 _Beautiful? Oh wow, he's confident._

"I, Shuuro-sama, will make you pay!" He charged me.

I jumped back, out of his way and lead him away from the villagers.

Shuuro have quite an interesting fighting style. He uses a lot of swiping elbow moves and showing his back, where his spikes are. He relied on speed a lot and most of his moves seem to aim to get me with a spike. After one of them hit a tree and turned it purple, I decided it is best not to touch them, at all. So I dodged with everything I have.

"Hey, Shuuro, right? So what are you? A sea urchin?" I taunted.

"BITCH. IT'S SHUURO-SAMA TO YOU! AND I'M A LIONFISH." He roared.

 _Oh ho? Quick to anger! That's a very bad disadvantage for a fighter. A great advantage for me though!_

I kept on dodging the lionfish fishman. I'm going to guess that he's not used to fighting for a long time, because he gets more and more frustrated as our dance went on.

Suddenly, Sanji flew straight between us. Taken by surprised, I froze for a second, not wanting to hit Sanji by accident. Shuuro took the chance and slammed into me.

"Fuaaaafuafuafuafuafuafua. I got you now, little bastard!" He laughed.

Then the fishman bastard started jumping and dancing on my torso. Despite not being able to breath properly as my lungs were forced close. I can't help but notice Sanji standing up and went back inside the wall.

"Alright, enough playing around. Time to finish you." Shuuro declared.

He stepped off of me and raised his hand. He pointed his fist to the sky and aim his elbow directly on top of my heart. He strikes.

But he never hit his mark. I had caught the spike with my left hand mere inches away from my chest.

"You're still alive? Fuafuafuafua, not for long!" He smirked, "You touched my spike! They are coated with enough poison to kill a seaking in one minute! Fuafuafuafua."

"You know, your laugh is kind of weird." I commented, "Also, you really need to look carefully at your opponents."

I reached up with other hand and with a sharp jerk; I severed the spike from his elbow. I was nice enough to leave a small stump of it to make sure that he won't bleed out. Shuuro doesn't share my sentiment though, considering how colorful his string of curses is.

"Honestly, you expect me to be stupid enough to grab those things barehanded? I'm not that stupid. Also, my gauntlets reflect sunlight like crazy, how can you not see them?" I show him my covered arms.

"! #$%^&^%$#$% (&#^%#$!#" He shouted back and swipe at me with his other elbow.

I grabbed the spike and broke that one, too. I gave him a deadpan look. Why would he think that I wouldn't break the other spike if I had already broken one?

Shuuro was furious, I can tell. His anger has finally consumed him. He no longer fights with any kind of style, just furious punches and kicks. He became sloppy and it makes my mind wander.

 _Hmmmmm. I wonder if the chi system on fishmen is the same with the one on human. Well, only one way to find out. I do have a few newly named moves to test out._

"Hey Shuuro. Are the chi system on fishmen similar to human?" I asked him, weaving out of a dangerous swipe.

"Fuck you!" He snarled while trying to take my head off.

"Meh. Doesn't hurt to ask." I shrugged and dodged.

An explosion rang out from Arlong Park.

This time, it was Shuuro's turn to freeze. Sadly for him, that small opening was all I need. I stepped straight into the starting position of basic Water…

"Water Style: RIPTIDE."

…And unleashed my full knowledge of the chi system on Shuuro. Every known chi points for muscle control were hit. For the last attacks, I thrust my palms into the two points on his Pectoralis Major (the chest muscles) and propelled him away from me. Shuuro went flew pass the villager into the Park and never got back up.

 _Well, at least the sedation points are correct. So are the alarm and stimulation points, considering how his muscles are all tense. Hah, they're going to hurt like a bitch when he wakes up._

I walked in and stood next to Zoro and Sanji.

"Kuroobi, Hachi, Shuuro." Arlong whispered.

"In the end, they're just 'seafood salad'. A fish take on a cook? Not in a million years." Sanji put on his boots irritated. "This game is ours."

"Game?" I asked.

"Later." Zoro groaned.

Arlong stood up, and clenched his fist. He looks about to burst a vein.

"You killed so many of my beloved brethren, one way or another. Don't you think you've gotten a little caught up in the moment?!" He demanded.

Zoro staggered to his feet:

"Oi, when you said Luffy's HALF okay, what did you mean?" He asked.

"Well he's not going to die." Sanji replied.

"But he's still stuck down there, isn't he." I felt like face-palming.

"Yeah. I gotta go underwater again for a bit." Sanji confirmed. "But it doesn't look like this guy plans on letting me do that."

We watched Arlong's every move. Then he flung water at us. My first instinct said dodge, but I didn't react fast enough. The drops of water hit my torso like a cannonball. I felt my feet left the ground and the air rushed out of my lungs. I managed to land on my feet but dropped to my knees. All I could do was try not to cough up my innards.

 _What the fuck was that? Oh gods, it was just water! So why does it feels like one of shisho's punch? Gah, shit. Focus! Breathe! In! Out! In! Out! Good!_

I stood back up after getting my breathing to a normal rhythm. Sanji also shakily stood up. However, Zoro stayed down, the bandage on his torso was died red with blood.

"To kill humans like you, a little water is all it takes!" Arlong sneered. "That's the different between you humans and us fishmen!"

"Cut the crap!" Sanji kicked him.

Arlong dodged him and threw more water at Sanji and hit him in the face.

"You should all give up. You're lives aren't all that important anyway." Arlong said.

"Bastard! All lives are important!" I shouted.

I went for a sucker punch to the guts, with a little twist, literally. I ended up with shots of water to my guts.

 _Gods damn that hurts._

"ARLONG!" Someone bellowed.

We turned to the source of the voice. Nami is here.

"Nami-aneki!" The hunter bro exclaimed.

"Nami-san!" Sanji said.

"Nami!" I said

"Nami-chan!" The villagers gasped.

"Yo, Nami! I was just giving some loser pirates a demonstration of our power. What brings you here? Shahahahaha." Arlong laughed.

"I'm here to kill you." Nami answered coldly.

"To kill me? Shaaahahahahaha." Arlong laughed. "You still haven't given up. How many times have you tried to kill me, these past eight years?"

The villager gasped. Their rage was visible. I share their sentiment.

"Murder, poison, assault. Has it ever worked?" Arlong continued, "You should know better than anyone else, that we can't be killed by you humans so easily. Listen, you can never kill me, and you can never run away from me. Nami, you'll remain as my cartographer. Besides, you know I've been good to you. I really hope that you'll continue making maps for me. Shahaha."

 _Damn, this dude really like to monologue. Shit, Luffy, where the hell are you? Aw gods, my guts. Man, I might be out of shape. Shit. I've been too lax the past three years._

"So, how does this sound?" _Holy shit, he's still going?_ "Because of what happened, normally I'd kill all of these people, except you. But, if you decide now to return to the Arlong Pirates, I'll spare the people of Cocoyashi village. But these guys won't be, they were too foolish." He pointed to us, then used his foot to flip Sanji over, kicked on to my back and stepped on my chest, feet sideway.

 _Fuckkkk. Why do these bastards like to step on my lungs so much? Screw you, fishy. Screw you. Wait, no, no screwing. Shit, shit, shit, need air! Starting to go to delirious!_

I pawed at his feet, only to prompt him to step harder. _Bitch._

"So, it's your choice. If you choose me, the people of your village will be safe. Or you could choose to fight against me with these fools. But, these guys that you hoped to rely on are in such bad shape right now, I don't think there is any way to avoid a tragic ending." He pounced his foot, the one on my torso, "Nami, are you MY nakama, or, are you theirs?"

"Everyone, I'm sorry. Will you die with me?" Nami asked.

"YOSHAAAAAA!" The villagers shouted in reply.

"So you wish to be slaughtered." The sashimi commented.

Suddenly, a giant geyser sprouted in outside the Park.

"There he is. All that's left is for me to take care of the block on his feet." Sanji huffed.

"What? So that's how it is." Zoro used his sword to stand up, "Make that 30 seconds, I can't hold on longer than that."

"That's more than enough!" Sanji ran for the water.

 _Ah shit, my vision is starting to blur._

Arlong stared at the water until Zoro sliced his face open.

"That's not what you should be worried about, you half-fish."

"Didn't I tell you to never say that word again?" Arlong growled, "Looks like you're about finished, Zoro!"

 _That's it, I've had enough._

"FUCKING SASHIMI, GET OFF ME." I wheezed and jammed my knuckles into Arlong's tibia (your shin bone).

"GAH!" Sashimi yelped and staggered back.

 _Oh air, sweet air!_

I flipped out of the way and tried to stabilize my breathing. I can faintly hear someone say my name.

"TAMAGO BOSHI!"

Arlong intercepted the egg that flew toward his face. Sadly, it was an egg, so it splattered everywhere.

"I've got you covered, Zoro, Ryuki!" Usopp's voice sounded far off.

We all turned toward the walls.

"Usopp-aniki! Are you alright?" Yosaku called out.

"How brave! He's facing him without fear!" Johnny praised.

"Oh yeah, I fight with no fear!" Usopp boasted from the hole that Sanji made earlier.

"WHY ARE YOU OVER THERE?!" The villagers shouted.

I can feel the sweat drop that formed on the back of my head.

"Usopp!" Nami cheered.

"Hey Nami, check it out! One of their guys, one of them was finished off by me. ME, of all people!" He pulled his mouth out, "A guy with a face like this, Huahahahahahaha, These fishmen are nothing!"

 _Dang, good job, Usopp._

"Chew, you bastard…" Arlong muttered in disbelief.

"You bet'cha. My appearance, signals the climax of this battle! Get ready for the big finale!" He shouted. "Hey Arlong! Over here, dork! USOPP WAGOMU!"

"You want to be the first to die, Roronoa Zoro?" Arlong ignored Usopp.

 _Wait, did this bastard just decide that I'm not a threat and ignore me? Bitch that will be your doom!_

"I will not die," Zoro moved first, "Allow me to break that ugly nose you love so dearly!"

Zoro's blades were not sharp enough to cut through Arlong's saw nose.

"Fool." He laughed, "I love it because it's unbreakable. If you weren't hurt so badly, you might have given it a bruise or a scratch."

Then Arlong proceeded to push Zoro back, using his nose like a sword. I was about to jump in when:

"Look! Over there!" Johnny shouted.

I followed where his fingers were pointed. Amongst the rubble stood a six-armed fishman.

"AH! That octopus jerk woke up!" Yosaku shouted.

The octopus were tensed, his arms were up, like he as defending himself. But from what?

"Wait, shit! I thought the rubber band was coming!" He waved his arms.

 _Oh gods, he's an idiot!_

Behind me, I can hear Usopp claiming something.

"Roronoa Zoro! I won't let you get away with this!" the octopus noticed Zoro, "Watch how I kill your nakama in the water!" He ran toward the water.

 _There are two strange points in what he said. One, it's underwater, how the hell is Zoro supposed to see? Two:_

"You're forgetting about ME!" I decked him across the face and launched him at the far wall. "Really, do I look that non-threatening? I mean, come on, I have spiky gauntlets for crying out loud. They're even covered with blood!"

"Pretty boy, you will regret that!" Hachi, I think, shouted from the other side of the wall.

"You know, watching your wounds are a very important thing." I commented. "After all, if you don't, they might re-open."

"Huh? What are you talking about? No matter. TAKOYAKI PUNCH" He sent a flurry of punches at me.

Only to freeze as the cuts on his torso reopen, almost showering me with blood.

"I did warn you." I shrugged.

"GAH!" Zoro shouted in pain.

I whirled around, the sight that greet me with horrendous. Arlong had ripped Zoro's bandages off. Without anything to help hold it together, the wound on his chest ooze blood. The cut span from his right shoulder all the way down to his left hip. By all rights, he should have been dead by now.

When Arlong raised his hand with the intention to finishes off my green-haired friend, I panicked. I grab a random gun from a random lackey that was on the ground and charged the bastard.

"HEY FISH FACE! DROP HIM!" I shouted and drop kick Arlong's elbow.

Arlong dropped Zoro and side stepped, then he punched at me. I twisted out of the way, landed safely on my feet, whipped out the gun, point the nozzle at the fishy bastard's face, and…

BANG!

…

…

…

"HOW THE HELL DO YOU MISS A SHOT AT POINT BLANK?!" The villagers and my crewmates scream in unison.

 _Oh shit. I forgot._

You see, for all my training, I've never been good with guns, bows, or any other projectile weapons. I'm bad enough at them that shisho said I'm cursed. I even have a standing order to never rely on any shooting, throwing, propelling, or any other things of the same way.

However, when faced with the prospect of losing a friend, I forgot. And now I had to pay the price, because the next thing I saw was a webbed hand coming for my face. Then white hot pain sear through my head.

 _I am confused and dazed. Why is there a hand on my face? Ugh, everything hurt. Why can't I feel the ground? Why does everything feel so distant? GAH. WHAT'S GOING ON?_

Another shot of pain snapped me out of my stupor. I regained my focus and assess my situation, which is kind of bad: Arlong is currently having fun with dangling me off the ground by my head. My bloodied head, mind you. He must have slammed me on the pavement.

I can faintly hear someone screaming my name. Not that I realize who it was due to the sound of my own blood rushing to my head.

"Shaaaaaahahahahahaha! You stupid little monkey! You think you can best me?! The great Arlong?! Shaaaahahahaha"

I tried to get out of his grip. But before I could even grab Arlong's offending arm, I heard Luffy's happy scream resounded all around. And then comes the dread when I felt his hands on my shoulders.

 _Ooooooohhhh no. No no no no no no NOOOOOOOOOO_

"RYUUUUUUUUUU! GOMU GOMU NOOOOO SWIIITTTCCCCCHHHHHHHH."

"LUFFYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY." I screamed as I soar through the sky.

Pain seared through my brain, again, when I hit water head first. As soon as I regained my bearings, I tried to swim up.

 _Gods dammit Zoro, these physical jokes are your responsibility! First the slope and now this? You owe me, dammit. You owe me big time!_

I was cradling my head and waiting for the pain to pass when I heard Luffy:

"Of course I don't know a damn thing about swords, you dumbass!" He shouted, "I don't know how to organize the crew, either. I don't know how to navigate. I can't cook. I can't even lie! I know that I need others to HELP me if I want to keep on living!"

"Shahaha. You sure are useless." Arlong laughed, "How pitiful. And such a pitiful guy is their captain? They must really resent you! Why should they risk their lives to save someone like you? Someone they can't be proud of, why should you be their captain? What can you do?"

"I can beat the crap out of you!" Luffy declared.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Kahahaha, that goes without saying. Kahahahaha."

I stood up to my feet and circled the outer wall of Arlong Park. The sound of cheers, screams and explosions accompanied me. However, the sound of Luffy's continuous pained scream sped me up.

I reached Usopp but couldn't see Arlong or Luffy anywhere.

"Usopp! What's going on?" I asked.

"Ryuki! You're ok!" He cried, "Arlong went berserk and chased Luffy up the top floor with this giant sword! They're inside!"

I staggered toward the villagers. They hunter duo noticed me, but Nami seemed to be in her own world. We waited and waited, but nothing happened.

Suddenly, a desk flew out. Then a chair, and then a bookshelf. Then a bunch of paper flew out and covered the sky. It took me moments to realize. They were maps. The maps that Nami were forced to draw.

The top of Arlong Park exploded. Luffy's leg stretched high up into the sky. When it came down, Arlong Park cracked right down in the middle. After little delay, it all came crashing down.

Everyone panicked and ran away from the destruction. Nami didn't budge.

"Nami, let's go." I told her.

"But Luffy…Luffy's still in there!" She objected.

"Tch, fine." I gave in.

I stepped in front of her and tuck her head down, shielding her from the debris. The plume of smoke washed over us, carrying bits of rocks. I can barely feel them, but the ones slamming into my open wound do hurt quite a bit.

Once the smoke cleared, I stepped back to take a look at the Park. Or more like the ruin of it. We waited with bated breath. Until Luffy popped out from the top of the rock pile.

"Luffy!" Nami called.

"AAANIIIIKIIII!" the hunter bros cried.

Luffy stood in silence. He seemed to be catching his breathe. Then he shouted:

"NAMIIIII! YOU ARE MY NAKAMAAAA!"

Glancing at Nami, I noticed that tears were streaming down her face.

Then everyone start chanting "we won" over and over. Finally, the cheers erupted.

Arlong Park has fallen.

The villagers collected Luffy and threw him in the air. I stood back and watch it all happen. They dropped him around the twentieth time. Luffy being Luffy, just laughed:

"That was awesome!"

Nami put the famous Straw Hat (yes, it deserve the capital) back on his head. Luffy jumped up and they high fived.

"Chichichi. Everybody freeze!" An obnoxious voice said.

 _Oh hell no. Not you again._

I whirled around and sure enough, there he was: Nezumi and crew in all their ratty glory. I can feel the surprise from all the villagers around me. I can quite understand. I mean, they're marines who came here looking all clean and smug. Right now, only about half of their original number came. Even then, none of them is in good health, bruise littered their faces.

"Chichichi. I might not be able to get that one million beri but Arlong's bounty and riches should still be something." He muttered, "Alright, everyone make way! I, Captain Nezumi of the Marine's 16th battalion, will be taking over from here!"

"Did no one ever teach you about time and place?" Zoro asked.

It took Zoro 5 seconds to wipe the floor with marine uniforms.

"A-A vill mack yu p-pey fur dis, yu – yu pastad!" (1)The rat sputtered out.

I let out a sigh and stepped on Nezumi's back.

"Looks like you didn't learn your earlier lesson. Eh, rat?!" I snarled.

Nezumi's face, which was paled from blood loss, paled even further when I reached for him. A slender hand stopped me. Nami held my elbow and shake her head.

"May I?" She asked.

I nodded and step back. Nami crouched down and grabbed Nezumi's face.

"Remember me?" She grinned.

Then with lightning fast movements, Nami pulled out her staff and pounce is skull off the ground.

"That's for shooting Nojiko."

Then she twirled the staff and skipped him across Arlong Park's pier.

"And that's for messing up Bellemere's tangerine groves."

"Thanks Nami. That was satisfying." Nojiko winked.

"And there's a thousand more where that came from, jerk!" Gen shouted.

When Nezumi finally reached shore, Nami pulled on his ratty mouse-tache.

"Now, you guys will take care of cleaning up after the fishmen, and help reconstruct Gosa village." She ordered, "But, you will not touch even the slightest bit of Arlong Park's Riches! They belong to the people of this island. Understood?"

"Ow ow, A'll do ad yu seyy…" (2) Nezumi cried.

The villagers ended up dumping the whole marine platoon into the sea and let them swim home. On his way out, Nezumi shouted:

"I'll remember this, you lousy pirates! Straw-hat guy! Your name is Luffy, right?" He glared, "You're the captain, aren't you? I won't forget this! You're gonna be big, after messing with me! Too late for amends now! I'll make you sorry! Mark my word!"

The fact that he said all that with a straight face while underwater and swimming away made me snickered.

"He said we're gonna be big." Sanji tapped his cigarette.

"How does he know I'm going to be the pirate king?" Luffy asked.

"He wasn't talking about that, you numbskull!" Zoro scolded him.

Added with Usopp freaking out, and I ended up laughing.

As the villagers ran to get the news to the rest of the island, my crewmate and I stayed back and told each other about our fight. We joked and laughed.

My elation was cut short when Nami realized something and wheeled on me as everyone else laughed. She grabbed the front of my gi any me down to face level.

"I remember now, Ryuki. Where. Is. My. MONEY?!" She snarled.

"Oh shit." I squeaked.

-/\\-/\\-

(1) : "I-I will make you p-pay for this, you-you bastard!"

(2) "Ow ow, I'll do as you sayy…"

 **Me: Hey guys! First off, there are no questions since last chapter!**

 **Ryuki: Therefore, there is no answer in this chapter!**

 **Me: Instead, I will be making a treat for all of my fans!**

 **Ryuki: It's a little thank-you for you all that have followed and faved my story.**

 **Me: I hope you're all enjoying Ryuki's story, adventure and suffering.**

 **Ryuki: The next chapter will be a special chapter!**

 **Me: Can you all guess what's it's gonna be like?**

 **Aliahra: No, what is it like?**

 **All: See you all later! XD**


	22. Chapter 21: the Girl and the Woman

"These are conversations"

And these are Ryuki's narrations

 **Hello my beloved readers! Chapter 21 is here. Enjoy my little gift!**

-/\\-/\\-

My name is Nami. I'm currently eighteen years old. I'm a thief and Luffy's navigator.

My dream is to draw a map of the world.

-/\\-/\\-

I never knew my birth parents. Bellemere saved and adopted Nojiko and me when I was a baby. We lived on a tangerine farm. We loved each other. And we were happy.

Until Arlong and his gang came along.

I lost my mother and freedom that day. I hate Arlong with all my being. He took everything from me. But for everyone, I made a deal with him. If I could bring him one hundred million beri, I could buy back my village, we will be free again.

It took me eight years of pain and suffering to collect the money. I had conned and stole money off of all the pirates I met. Everything was fine and I almost had the money. But everything got even better when I got into a scuffle with Buggy the Clown's crew.

That was when I was caught into Luffy's crazy life. I ended up liberating a town from a circus pirate crew lead by a clown; helped out a man stuck in a chest; thwarted an invasion by a crew of cat-theme men; and then got into trouble with a crew of cooks on a fish-shaped floating restaurant.

Thanks to all of that, I met the most interesting people.

The first person was Luffy, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. He's a moron. He's skinny, and slightly short, but he's capable of things beyond expectations. He has a devil fruit ability which made him a rubber man. I suspect it also made his brain all rubber since he does the stupidest things sometimes.

Second was Zoro, the second mate and swordsman. Contrary to his captain, Zoro is very muscular. He's also more mature than Luffy, even if that's not really hard to do. He has green hair and uses three swords. I've seen him fight a few times, and I must say that he's a very impressive, but reckless moron. Also, he's directionally challenged, I have seen him get lost on the Going Merry.

Third one was Ryuki, the quartermaster and resident martial artist. She's a tall and well-toned redhead woman. Thanks to her lacking top, wide shoulders and a face that's somewhere between masculine and feminine, she looks more of a pretty boy than a girl. She sometimes uses coarse language, acts like one of the guys, charms girls without knowing, and gets pretty protective over us. But yes, she's a she, I checked.

Next was Usopp, the Sniper. He has curly hair and a crazy long nose and is a little bit on the skinny side. Although, for someone of his stature, he's runs surprisingly fast. Other than that, his sniping ability is very impressive, even if his choice of weapon is quite peculiar. However, his tendency to lie makes him quite annoying. Thankfully, he's more like me, sane and cautious.

Last was Sanji, our cook. He's blond and has curly eyebrows. We haven't known each other for long, but he's very obsessed with girls, which makes him really easy to manipulate.

I just realize he doesn't know Ryuki is a girl, yet. That should be fun.

At first I had intended to leave them all behind and deal with Arlong. I almost had the money, and I don't want them to get hurt, or worse, killed by the fish bastard. But of course, they followed me anyway.

And I am grateful to them for that. After all, they had taken down Arlong Park and freed my island. I am also extra grateful to Ryuki for keeping Nezumi from my money.

But that is that, and this is this.

-/\\-/\\-

"And don't mess with my treasures again." I pulled on the winded Ryuki's ear.

"Ow ow! Okay okay! I'm sorry! I swear I won't" She begged.

"Now take me to them." I gave another tug and pushed her along.

Ryuki yelped and started moving. She massaged her abused ear and grumbled something while we walk away from the laughing hyenas that were my crewmates. We lapsed into a comfortable silence on the way. With Ryuki walking before me, I can tell she's contemplating something.

"Hey Nami?" Ryuki broke the silence.

"Hmmm?" I noised.

"What, uhh… do you … um…" She took a deep breathe, "Have you ever thought about meeting your mother again?"

I froze.

"I…What?" I stuttered, stopping in my tracks.

"W-well, I mean if, IF you ever meet her again?" She stopped too, but didn't turn around, "Like, like when you die or… or she comes back as a ghost or… you know."

 _Meeting Bellemere again? What? I had never thought about that before._

"I don't know." I choked out, "I mean, I've never really thought about it. I mean, I would probably be ecstatic. I might hug her and never let go again. But, I don't know if she'd be proud or ashamed of me. She might even hate me now. I…I just don't know."

Ryuki listened as I lay out my irrational fear to her. Then she whirled around and clasped her hands on my shoulders. The look in her eyes was of complete seriousness:

"Do you want to meet her?" She asked.

"I…I…" I was caught off guard.

We stared into each other's eyes for a few more moments. I was starting to get uncomfortable. Then Ryuki's eyes softened for a fraction and she smiled brightly.

"Just give it some thought! Now come on, your treasure awaits!" she patted my shoulder.

 _What is it with this crew and their ability to puzzle me? And what was that?_

-/\\-/\\-

After retrieving my treasures from the Cliffside that Ryuki had hung it from. I had her carry the chest that contained them back to my house. I walked along just to be sure.

 _I'm protective of my money, so what?_

"Soooooooo, about my question earlier." She drawled.

"Yes?" I inquired.

"Well, did you think about it?" she asked.

"A bit." I said.

"Cool. Can you give me an answer before we leave?" She requested.

"Why?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Uhhhhhh. I'm curious?" She gave me an innocent looking smile.

"Fine." I said

 _But I have my eyes on you._

We walked the rest of the way in silence. However, almost as soon as Ryuki put the chest down, her head twitch to the side as if she noticed something. She bid me a hasty farewell and a lame ass excuse "I don't want to miss the party!" and took off. If that is not suspicious, I don't know what is.

I did the only reasonable thing to do. I followed her.

Ryuki ran along the road until my house was out of view. Then she jumped to the left, into the forest and ran for a couple paces. Then she took another hard left, toward my house.

I'm not really sure why, maybe she wanted to avoid leaving a trail, Ryuki climbed up a tree and jumped across the branches. Annoyingly, despite traversing such odd terrain, Ryuki didn't slow down, at all. I might even say that she sped up!

Luckily, I was able to keep her in my sight all the way back to the orange grove. I had to hide behind a tree when she started looking around. I lost sight of her then. I sneaked around the grove looking for Ryuki. She's hiding something, and I must know if it's a danger or not.

"…..the plan…your help." I heard Ryuki whisper.

 _Plan? Help? Ryuki?_

I followed Ryuki's voice to the most shielded corner of the grove. The corner that she was in only has one access point. The other sides were walled off by the orange trees and shrubs. I hid next to the opening to listen in. However, try as I might, I couldn't hear anyone beside her.

…

"I know! I know she might not agree! But what if she does!"

…

"Well, I have to do it sooner or later! So why not now?"

…

"Yes, I know, although the captain might think otherwise. But that's why I need to do this before we leave!"

…

"So are you in or not?"

…

"Alright. Worst case scenario, just hide me somewhere."

…

"See you at the party then."

I scampered away from my hiding spot to another so that Ryuki wouldn't catch me. I waited and waited, but no one came out after Ryuki. I stayed still for another five minutes before peeking into the corner. There was no one there. The flora was in peak condition, no sign of anyone moving through the trees, and only one set of footprints.

 _Ok, so either Ryuki was talking to someone who can fly, or she was talking to herself. I'm leaning more toward the latter possibility though._ The picture of Ryuki flipping from serious to smiling in a snap came to mind. _Could it be?_

-/\\-/\\-

I found the crew partying with the villagers in the middle of the town. There was food and booze everywhere.

Luffy was running around and stuffing all kinds of meat down his throat; Zoro was sitting off to the side, drinking sake; Ryuki was next to him with her own mug; Sanji was off flirting in the far corner; and Usopp was singing on top of a makeshift platform. I grabbed a mug of beer and sat down next to my only female crewmate.

"Hey, what took you so long?" She asked me.

"I was taking stock of things." I lied.

"Geeze, you're obsessed." She said sipping her drink.

Watching her, I noticed that her drink looked like beer, but didn't have the smell.

"That's not beer, is it?" I inquired.

"Hm? Nope. It's sugarcane juice. I like drinking sweet things with my jerky," I grinned.

"You and jerky is like Luffy and meat." Zoro snickered.

"True. You eat too much of that stuff" I agreed.

"False. There is no such thing as too much jerky." Ryuki quipped back.

"Please, with your salt intake, it's a wonder you haven't had a heart attack yet." Zoro huffed.

"Eh. I usually just sweat it out." She smirked.

"Gross. How are you even classified as human?" Nami crunched up my nose.

"The same way as Luffy and Zoro." She jabbed.

"Hey!" Zoro protested.

I laughed, and they joined me. Despite the nervous doubt about Ryuki, I had a great time, even if Ryuki flat out refused to touch any alcohol. Something about her being a "really bad type of drunk", I think.

After finishing up her drink Ryuki spent the rest of the night gathering and hoarding all the jerky from the party.

Around midnight, Ryuki asked for my answer to the question earlier, again, while stuffing her loot (the jerky) into a giant bag.

Two hours later, she asked me again, after returning from where she hid the jerky.

She asked me the same question every ten minutes afterward.

"I do." Was what I answered around five o'clock.

She grinned and told me to gather the crew and Nojiko at my house. Then she took off.

-/\\-/\\-

The crew plus Nojiko and I found Ryuki fidgeting in front of my door. She looked slightly nervous, and kept glancing around.

"No one followed you guys right?" she asked, almost pleading.

We checked and shook our heads.

"Ok. There is something I need to tell you all about." Ryuki sighed.

"Oh gee, we couldn't tell." Zoro deadpanned.

"Bastard, shut up." She shot him a glare, to which he just smirked back.

"Shitty marimo, let him talk." Sanji quipped.

"Thank you, Sanji. Anyway, there's a…something that I've been hiding from you guys for a while now." She showed us her palms, "And before you ask why, it's because I don't know how you guys would react. So, I'm…uh…I-I…"

"Have multi-personality disorder?" I offered my theory.

"REALLYYY!? THAT'S AWSOMEEE!" Luffy was ignored.

"What? NO! The fuck?!" She reeled back.

"I heard you talking to yourself earlier. You know, in the corner of my orange grove?"

"NO! I wasn't talking to myself! It might have sounded like it, but I wasn't." She denied.

"Uh huh. There is only one way out of that corner, one set of footprints and only one person to leave, you." I pressed.

"NO! Gods damn it! I wasn't! I was talking to her!" She pointed to a random patch of air to her right.

"Uhhhhh. Ryuki, there's no one there. Are you sure you're not hallucinating?" Nojiko sounded concerned.

"I'm not! She…ARGGGG. Why is it like this every time I do this?! Every. Single. Time!" She looked like she was about to burst a blood vessel.

Ryuki raged a bit and muttered really colorful sentences that I will never repeat. Then she took a deep breath and let out a shaky one.

"You know what! Screw this. I can see these people that no one else can, I call them Strangers, but you know them better as ghost. I'll be sleeping like dead after this, literally mind you, so don't worry too much. And here's your evidence." She glanced to the right, "Ready?… It was really nice to meet you by the way… Let's go."

Ryuki's right arm shot out, grabbed onto something invisible and pulled it into a hug. A second passed and we started to see it, a light blue fog that had wrapped itself around Ryuki. As she tightened her hold, the fog dissipated and pooled around her, almost like it's going into her. Actually, scratch that, it WAS going into Ryuki!

When the fog was completely gone, Ryuki dropped her arms. Her shoulders were hunched; her arms were dangling; her eyes were closed; all in all, she looked about to drop.

"Ry-Ryuk…" Usopp reached out.

Ryuki's whole body convulsed and tensed up. She bared her teeth at us with a guttural growl. When she snapped her eyes open, they were glowing light blue.

All of us took a step back, except Usopp who yelped and jumped.

Then Ryuki clutched her throat as these choking/growling sounds came out. She struggled for a few seconds before dropping her jaw open and the same light blue fog from before erupted from her mouth. It pooled around her feet like a cloud. After the fog stopped pouring out, Ryuki relaxed and stared straight ahead. As soon as she did, the light blue cloud violently spun itself around Ryuki, completely engulfing her and creating a torrent of air outward, causing me to raise an arm and cover my eyes.

The wind stopped abruptly. I lowered my arm. The sight that greeted me was not what I had ever expected. The fog smothered Ryuki and concentrated into the visage of a woman who looked exactly the same as the day she died, albeit being light blue and slightly see through. She was the woman who I missed the most.

"Whoa." Luffy exclaimed.

The woman who raised me.

"Holy shit." Zoro muttered.

The woman who taught me.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAA!" Usopp screamed.

The woman who loved me.

"OH MY GODDESS!" Sanji squealed.

The woman who saved me.

"It can't be." Nojiko gasped.

The woman who died for me.

"M-mom?" I breathed.

Bellemere blinked, took a deep breath and put her hands on her hips:

"It's been a long time, brats." She grinned.

-/\\-/\\-

 **Me: Welp, I hope you guys like this chapter as much as I do!**

 **Ryuki: They probably hate your gut for taking so long though.**

 **Me: GAH. I'm sorry. T.T**

 **Aliahra: Don't worry; you'll never be as bad as me.**

 **Ryuki: Well, there's not really any question this time around either.**

 **ME: SOOOOOO, BYE GUYS!**

 **Ryuki: Now go start on the next chapter.**

 **Aliahra: Indeed, I want to read the next chapter before anyone else and lord it over to myself. Privileges of the Beta Reader! Whoo! :D**


	23. Chapter 22: a Change of Plan

"These are conversations"

And these are Ryuki's narrations

 **Hello my beloved readers! I hope you enjoyed Nami's POV. Sorry for being so late again. I have really slowed down in my writing. I'll try to get back into a rhythm though, so good day everyone!**

-/\\-/\\-

After dealing with Arlong, I had to face Nami's wrath. The witch is scary when it comes to money. Anyway, when I took her to the cliff that I hid the treasure, I decided to give her and her sister the option of seeing Bellemere again, those three deserve that much. I still don't know why I didn't tell them about my ability before though. The bad news is that I might have unnerved Nami a bit if that startled expression she had was an indication. I had to make a distraction.

I continued to press her a little bit more afterward, but then I saw the light blue smoke in the garden. Bellemere was waving at me. So, I hastily told Nami that I didn't want to miss the party and ran off. As a smoke screen, I ran until Nami's house was out of view and returned to the garden via tree jumping to avoid footprints. Something about it makes me want to laugh.

When I found Bellemere back at the garden, she took me to a secluded corner of a small opening in the trees. It's hidden so there's plenty of privacy, but I still whispered in case someone by chance walked by.

"So, what do you want to talk to me about?" She asked me.

"How did you know?" I was surprised.

"You ran off the moment I waved at you, and then you came back in all sneakily, there's obviously something you don't want others to see. And what could that be?" She grinned.

"Talking to thin air," I answered, face-palming.

"So, what is it?" She asked again.

"I want to let you meet with Nami again, face-to-face. And I can't enact the plan without your help." I told her.

"You do know that there's a chance that she might refuse, right?

"I know! I know she might not agree! But what if she does?"

"True. But are you really sure about this?"

"Well, I have to do it sooner or later! So why not now?"

"There is a chance that they might think you're a threat, you know."

"Yes, I know, although the captain might think otherwise. But that's why I need to do this before we leave!"

"That is true."

"So, are you in or not?"

"Fine, let's do it." She sighed.

"Alright. Worst case scenario just hides me somewhere." I'm relieved.

"I'll try. Let me find a good place to hide you." She looked resigned.

"See you at the party then." I smiled at her.

Then we part way. After that, I enjoyed the party with the crew. If things go wrong, it might be the last time I will ever see them again, so I want to enjoy things while it lasts. I also took some time to really think about why I couldn't just tell the crew about the Strangers.

The plan is to ask Nami for her consent in seeing Bellemere again before sunrise. If I can't, I'll just kidnap everyone and bring them to the orange farm. And in preparation for the worst scenario, I went and collected rations for my solo journey. The fact that jerky was the only ration is irrelevant.

Luckily, during my travel, I've tried to study up on my abilities as a medium for the living and the dead. Even though I couldn't find out much about it, I did notice two important things. One, my after-possession recuperation time that started at 24 hours is now only 18 hours. I still don't know why though. The second thing is that there is a time limit for possession, which went up from half an hour to a two-hour maximum.

With that, I asked Bellemere to hide my lifeless body if things went badly during her time with Nami and the rest. The total of two hours should give a good enough deadline. Honestly, I hope things won't come to that.

-/\\-/\\-

I stood in a wide circular room. The wall was dark gray in color with black vines growing all over the place. The vines' growth wasn't very dense, they had plenty of space between each of them, none of the vines overlapped, and the weirdest part was the fact that they would pulse occasionally. All this gave the room a strange feeling as if it were alive.

In contrast to the odd wallpaper of the room, there were colorful circular plaques (1) hanging all around. There were twenty-one in total, each has their own difference in material, color, and carving. The plaques all have vines of their own color growing downward and meeting in the middle, where I'm currently standing. However, most of the vines, while healthy, are dim, almost like they are sleeping. Only two of them are actually glowing quite brightly.

One of the glowing vines originated from the lone plaques in front of me. While most of them are evenly spaced out from each other, the one right in front of me stood far away from the others. This plaque was black, seemingly made of obsidian, and the only carving on it was a menacing skull and the word [ Mortem ].

The other vine is from a plaque directly behind me. This plaque had the light blue color of aquamarine and had the carving of a brig sloop riding upon giant waves. The word carved under it is [ Aqua ].

Not entirely sure of what I'm doing in this room, I continued to observe the other dimmed plaques.

One of them was orange from topaz, has a snail petroglyph and the word [ Ignis ]. Another was ruby red with a Scythe and the word [ Pulvis ]. A purple amethyst that had the carving of a bird with a pointy tail and the word [ Draco ]. And white jade with a wolf fang and the word [ Canis ]. Even a clear diamond with a hard to see reversed blade sword and [ Bellum ].

All the plaques have almost nothing in common. But somehow, I feel like I know them and the meaning behind them.

Before I could contemplate more on the matter, a voice called out to me.

"It's good to finally meet you."

I turn to face the speaker. The girl stood directly in front of the [ Mortem ] plaque. She was a short girl, five feet zero, brown hair, brown eyes, and a very common face. However, the strange glint of madness in her eyes made me wary of her.

"Oh come on. You don't have to be so tense. Let's be friends! Oh wait, that won't work. How can I be friend with OOPS, no no, no spoilers! He he he, soooooryyyyyy."

The girl has this mad wide grin when she speaks, and the way she changes topics made me feel even more uneasy.

"Eh. Anyway, there's not much time left! So choose wisely [ Aqua ]."

And everything faded to black.

-/\\-/\\-

 _That was a weird dream. Who the heck was that girl anyway? Ughhh. I'm so tired. Where am I, anyway?_

I groggily opened my eyes. The first thing I saw this time is a ceiling. It should be around midnight right now so it should be pretty dark. Judging from the fact that there are lights dancing and flashing into the room and plenty of noises can be heard, I'm somewhere near the party. So, the guys either brought me to the clinic or the Bellemere hid me in plain sight. It seems to be the former since I can see various drawers of medicine around the place.

"You finally woke up huh?" Someone said.

I turned my head and found another clinical bed nearby. Atop that bed is a chained down Zoro. Seeing me stare at the chains, he said:

"My stitches came off."

"Figured," I smirked.

"Shut up." He retorted.

I lapsed into a comfortable silence. Zoro not lashing out means he's fine with me. That's a relief. And if he's not resisting the chains, then there is no immediate danger to me at the moment. With me awake, my chances of escape if anyone else sees me as a threat is also considerably high.

"Hey, you woke up!" Another voice called out to me.

This time it was Nami, who came in through the front door. She sat down next to my bed and put her hand on my cheek:

"Hmmm, you're not freezing anymore, that's good. Geez, you really scared us when you just dropped into a near death coma like that." She scolded me, gently! With a smile!

"Uhhhhhhh, N-Nami, are you alright? You're kind of creeping me out." I told her.

Nami's smile twitched and BAM!

"GAHAH!" I yelped. Nami's fist hurts like a bitch!

"Well excuse me for being concerned!" She scowled.

I curled up on myself and cradled my pulsing head. Zoro's laughter turned straight into wheezes of pain. His stitches might have come off again. Serves him right.

"Oiii, is Ryuki awake yet?" Usopp appeared at the door way.

"He is really missing out on the party." Sanji came with him.

"Hm hmm, hmm hmm hmm hmm." Luffy tried to say.

I have no idea what Luffy just said. He looks like a giant, humanoid, carnivorous chipmunk right now. Never the less, they thrust a whole bunch of food at me and chat like I didn't just show them that ghosts exist. I can tell right then and there, I was worrying too much. This is the Straw Hat Pirate crew, after all.

After making sure I wouldn't die, Luffy shoved the food down my throat and we left the clinic to rejoin the party. Zoro snuck out, too.

And that's how I found myself sitting in a corner between Nami and Zoro, once again holding a drink and some snacks, watching Luffy stuff himself, Sanji fail at flirting, and Usopp showing his oddly vast knowledge in songs about his greatness. We sat there and talk about the things of our past, the adventures and misadventures that we've been on, and the things we never knew about each other. The rest of our crew joined in too.

The party was awesome.

-/\\-/\\-

It is the fourth day after Arlong Park incident came. The party finally died down last night, and we decided to set off today. The villagers had helped us stock up the ship and everything. I, of course, did not forget my jerky.

Zoro carried up a crate and passed it to Usopp.

"This is the last one, right?" Usopp grunted.

"Yup!" Zoro confirmed.

"Is everything onboard?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Alright then. They've stocked us with food. Looks like we're ready." Sanji commented.

"We've only been here a few days," Usopp put the grate away, "but I feel like we've made so many memories on this island, you know?"

"Yeah. Shishishi." Luffy laughed.

Then Sanji looked around with a scowl and a worry expression. He seems to be searching for something. Suddenly, we heard someone from the ground:

"Anikis, thanks! We owe you all so much!" Yozaku started.

"We'll bid our farewells for now, but hopefully we'll meet again one day." Johnny finished.

"Take care, alright?" Zoro smirked down at them.

"You too, aniki!" they shouted up.

"Alright, shall we go too?" I started toward the sail.

"W-Wait a minute! Where's Nami-san?" Sanji stopped us.

"I thought she wasn't coming?" Zoro replied.

"WHY NOT! YOU BASTARD, YOU SAID SOMETHING RUDE TO HER, DIDN'T YOU?!" Sanji screamed at Zoro.

"I see, that's a good point. She doesn't have a reason to be a pirate anymore. She'll probably be happier if she stayed here." Usopp deduced.

"WHAT ABOUT MY HAPPINESS?!" Sanji rejected. "WITHOUT NAMI-SAN HERE, I ALREADY LOST 98.72% OF MY REASON TO BE HERE!"

"Uwah, he even calculated the exact percentage," I muttered in astonishment.

"Hey, you know I never found that ham-ham-melon thing!" Luffy completely ignored Sanji's outburst.

Because of Nami's absence, murmurs arose from the crowd. Everyone was getting anxious. That was when we spotted her at the very back of the sea of people below. Sanji yelled out her name and alerted everyone.

"START THE SHIP!" Nami shouted.

And she started running.

"Huh? What's up with her? She started running!" Usopp questioned.

"She said set sail." Luffy reminded him.

"B-but!" Usopp stuttered.

"You all heard her, so come on," I told the other two.

Zoro pulled up the anchor while Sanji and I unfurled the sail. Then we waited at the back of the ship and watch the commotion on the dock.

"Hey, are you sure you want to let her leave this way?" Sanji asked.

"It's fine, isn't it? It's her decision, after all." Luffy replied.

Nami weaved her way through the crowd of people trying to thank her and stop her at the same time. Then with a mighty jump and a step on Merry's rail, she landed lightly on the back. Then with everyone still flabbergasted, she wordlessly pulled up her shirt.

Wallets and purses rained out.

Nami pulled out a 10 000 Beri note, kissed it and faced the dock:

"Take care, everyone!" She grinned

The roaring "YOU LITTLE BRAT" from the crowd was heard loud and clear.

Usopp and Zoro made a really weird face.

"Oi, she hasn't changed a bit." Usopp dead-panned.

"Who knows when she'll turn on us again," Zoro muttered.

"Sticky fingers." I shook my head.

"Nami-san, good!" Sanji thumps up.

Luffy just laughed.

Everyone left Nami to say her goodbyes returned to their stations. Luffy left to sit Merry's figurehead. Zoro went to the stair's base and started snoring. Sanji wanted to check out the kitchen. Usopp disappeared to the boys' room. Nami started to pick up her hill of wallets. I helped her out despite the suspicious glances she gave me.

"Stop worrying. I'm just trying to help. Besides, I learned my lesson." I scratched my previously abused ear, "And I don't have the skill set to loot these without you knowing."

She frowned in thought, then brightened up and accepted my help.

With the wallets in hands, I followed Nami to our shared room where she dumped everything on her bed. I sat down on my hammock while Nami pulled out a small chest next to the bed. She put the money to one side and the wallets in the other.

"Oh! I almost forgot." Nami perked up.

She fetched something and pushed into my palm.

It was an orange.

"Thanks." She smiled and went back to sorting out the money.

I let out a breathless laugh and put the gift on the small table designated to me. Then, I left to fetch my jerky. Gods know I need to hide them before Luffy gets his hands on them.

As soon as I emerge from our room, I had to block a black leg of a certain cook.

"You perverted little shit!How dare you defile Nami-swan's bedroom!?" He growled.

Then with a spin, he slammed his other leg into my arm, sending me out of the storage room. I skidded to a stop and slipped into the Earth stand: front stance, left foot in front, with centering low on the back leg; left arm point straight forward; right arm hip level, perpendicular the left arm, and parallel to the ground, fisted palm up. This stance is purely for defense, it wouldn't do to injure my new crewmate.

Why didn't I just tell him I'm not a guy, you ask? Well, I want to know how strong he is. I really need a good spar. And I really don't want him to fawn over me. It's uncomfortable.

I dropped down and dodged a spin kick, then had to roll to the side to dodge a drop kick. And then I had to back flip away from another spin kick. I landed in a crouch. The moment my feet touched the ground, I sprung up and send a straight punch right at Sanji. He dodged and kicked me in the guts. I blocked that kick and reply with a sidekick, which cause Sanji to jump away. He charged back in immediately.

Sanji's kicks are strong, crazy strong. The transition between his kicks is brilliant. If I hadn't been a martial artist, I highly doubt I would have lasted through the first few kicks.

We continued our slightly deadly dance until the others heard the commotion and came running. Nami stopped our fight:

"What is going on?" She demanded.

"NAMI-SWANNN! Do not fret, my dear princess. I'm simply punishing this heathen who dares to trespass into the room of a maiden!" Sanji swooned.

Luffy and Usopp burst out laughing. Zoro smirked with a raised eyebrow. Nami face-palmed.

"And you couldn't just tell him?" She pointed accusingly at me.

I shrugged, smiling back at her.

"Huh? Huh? Tell me what?" Sanji looked around puzzled.

"Sanji, Nami and I share that room." I pointed to the girls' room.

Sanji stared at me.

…

…

…

He paled and shrieked:

"NOOOOOOOOOO! IT CAN'T BE!" He cried and curled into a ball.

The moronic duo laughed harder, Zoro even joined in. Nami sweat-dropped. I sighed:

"Dude …" I started.

Sanji sprung up from his fetal position and grabbed my shoulders. He stared straight into my eyes:

"Ryuki, you have better treat Nami-san right, or I will personally kick your ass for making such a fair maiden cry. You hear!" He threatened.

My mind went blank. I can barely hear the other boys howling laughter and Nami badly concealed one. My eyebrow twitched violently. I can feel my face turning beat red from both embarrassment and anger. I head-butted him:

"I'm a girl dammit!"

I huffed at his crumpled form and walked to my jerky bag, glaring at the laughing morons on the way.

"A girl?" Sanji mumbling reached me.

"A GIRL?!" He screamed.

"Oh heavenly warrior maiden, please let me apologize to you! Please wait for me, Ryuki-kyun!" He shouted.

I tripped on thin air while hearing my crewmates wheezing from laughing too much. Idiots.

-/\\-/\\-

After sorting and putting everything away, it was time to decide our next course of action!

"Let's head for the Grand Line!" Luffy declared.

We all cheered. But then I remembered one very important factor and the smile slipped off my face. Zoro, being the ever-vigilant moron that he is, immediately noticed.

"Ryuki? What's wrong?" He called out.

Everyone stopped cheering and stared at me. Under there puzzled and worried stares, I had to tell them. Besides, maybe they could help me choose.

"Well, you guys remember when I was recruited?"

"Yeah," Zoro said, his eye twitched.

"Yes," Nami answered, shuddering.

"Huh?" Usopp and Sanji didn't know.

"Those two morons had a competition of 'who's more stubborn' for hours. It was annoying." Zoro explained.

I laughed a bit at their expression.

"Well, one of the reasons why I didn't accept was that I was actually on a training journey."

"Really!? That's so cool!" Luffy's eyes sparkled.

"It's a tradition for my dojo. All students at age eighteen will be sent out on a two years journey to learn. I've already finished mine."

"Wait, so does that mean you're twenty?" Luffy butted in.

"Dumdass! You don't ask a lady her age!" Sanji whacked him upside the head.

"It's fine Sanji. And no, I'm twenty-three."

"Wha…!" Nami's jaw dropped.

"Huh, you're older than I thought," Zoro commented.

"Damn, you look around our age!" Usopp whistled.

Sanji became a whirlwind.

"It's not that big of a deal. What's really the problem here, is that I'm three years late from the set date to come back. And since we're heading for the Grand Line, I don't know if I'll even get back to my family."

My crewmates seemed to understand my dilemma. Except for Luffy:

"So? We'll reach the end of the Grand Lind and then you can go visit them!" He grinned.

"True. But when? I know that either way they're going to worry if I'll ever come back, or that I'm dead somewhere. Especially when Luffy gets his bounty, I can't send them letters then."

The mood became solemn.

"That's why, captain, I have a request," I told him.

"Hmm? What is it?" He waited.

"I want to at least give them a proper farewell, so can we make a detour? My home island is just bit of a way south of the gate to Grand Line."

"Sure. Let's go visit Ryu's family!" Luffy announced.

Everyone cheered and smiled at me.

"Oh, Ryuki, tell me the name of your island so I can set our course," Nami asked.

"It's called Sushi Island," I told her.

"What! Really! Now we _have_ to go! Nami, hurry up!" Luffy perked up.

 _Of course he would jump at that name. No matter, they all shifted from the goal for me, I'm grateful. *sigh* Dammit, I really love this crew._

-/\\-/\\-

(1) Plaque: an ornamental tablet, typically of metal, porcelain, or wood, that is fixed to a wall or other surface in commemoration of a person or event.

 **Me: Alright!**

 **Haru: Finally.**

 **Me: First off, I want to give thanks to one Flamarow. The reviews you wrote made me nearly cry tears of joy. So many reviews!**

 **Haru: And thank you, for pointing out so many flaws in this lazy ass! It makes my torments under her just a little bit bearable.**

 **Me: Shut up. Anyway, as you have pointed out in chapter 6, I forgot to explain the white striped black belt level. It is the final stage of the style. And you just made some really good guesses. I'll explain it later, so bear with me**

 **Haru: In chapter 8, the comment section became like that was because this idiot somehow uploaded the chapter in the code format, making it almost impossible to read. Ahhh what a great laugh I had.**

 **Me: Yeah, that was a bit embarrassing. Moving on to chapter 11, we have recognized your opinion on Haru's reason to travel with the Straw Hat. And worry not; we do agree that it is too shallow of a reason. Therefore, this will be resolved in the next arc!**

 **Haru: Chapter 16. … Technically, I am an anime girl.**

 **Me: Chapter 17, Zoro was just being mean. This is too early for any romance to actually form!**

 **Haru: Chapter 19. I'm trying. It's harder than it sounds! That's all I'm going to say! And as for chapter 20. This matter of 'out of shape' will be explained very soon!**

 **Me: Chapter 21. I decided to cut it off since I know I won't be able to do justice in that conversation. If enough people demand it, I'll try to make an omake for it.**

 **Haru: And that's it! Damn, that's a lot.**

 **Me: I'm grateful either way. If there's anything else, feel free to comment everyone. X3**

 **Aliahra: Unless you have something very important to do, for example: dying and being reincarnated.**

 **Haru and I: Oi. Anyway, that's all, have a good day, everyone!**


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